


A History Of Soul Bonds by Filius Flitwick

by BantaskinJones



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:27:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 86,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21915982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BantaskinJones/pseuds/BantaskinJones
Summary: Sirius Black and Harry Potter went into seclusion in November of 1981. Albus Dumbledore had lost his chosen one. But the wizarding world still needed a hero, when Voldemort rose again. In fact, it needed three.
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Fred Weasley & George Weasley, Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley/George Weasley, Sirius Black/Amelia Bones, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 34
Kudos: 176
Collections: Pensieve





	1. Introduction

_Soul magic is strange and complex. Most wizards do not believe that this is an area worthy of study in any great detail. However, the author of this book disagrees. Bonds are not unusual. Many simply exist below the surface, in the undercurrents of magic and are never seen. For example a sibling bond or a mothers bond with her children. You will never see physical proof of it but it can be reliably estimated that it's there._

_Occasionally, however, there will exist a bond of such strength it manifests a physical reminder upon the bond mates. This is very similar to the wedding marks on vowed couples and is generally treated the same way in the eyes of the Ministry. These bonds arise out of friendship and love and can only occur under the most specific of circumstances. The souls can bind for any number of reasons. Seeing another in a new light, surviving some ludicrous feat of danger or for others, it can be as simple as a kiss._

_It has often been theorised that the founders of Hogwarts were bonded in a similar way. It's true that if anyone were to study their portraits they would probably notice a small tattooed bracelet around each wrist. This would suggest that their bond arose through friendship (A more detailed description of bond tattoos can be found on page 195)._

_During my time teaching charms at Hogwarts, I was only fortunate enough to meet one set of bond mates. I taught them charms classes from their first year and was the one to explain to them what their tattoos meant. When their lives finally calmed down enough following the end of the war, I managed to persuade them to tell me their story, for the purposes of education and history._

_Their story is what follows,_

_Filius Flitwick_

_Master of Charms_

_Professor of Charms at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Head of Ravenclaw House_

* * *

_It is important, before we begin their story, to start with someone else's. It has been widely agreed upon that had certain events not taken place, our bond mates would never have realised their connection to each other and a very different account of history would have been written. So allow an old man to set the scene. It was the 5th of November 1981, You-Know-Who had been defeated by a baby and the man who betrayed James and Lily Potter to him was in court for their murders. Many had agreed that an obvious dark wizard such a Sirius Black did not deserve the benefit of the doubt that a trial provided. However, on the night of his arrest, he pleaded with Amelia Bones, who was a junior Auror at the time. It has been agreed that it was her decision which changed history. She arranged for a trial, under the conditions that Black was questioned with Veritaserum, and that, dear readers, is where we find ourselves now._

* * *

A man sat chained to a chair, on a dais a crowded courtroom, his long black hair hanging around his face. A tall wizard, by the name of Augustus Merkton, rose to his feet, knees creaking and spoke.

"Considering your statement given under Veritaserum and after reviewing your memories, this court finds Sirius Black innocent of the charges placed against him. Furthermore," He raised his voice to be heard over the cheers from the assembled crowd. "The court awards you with the guardianship of Harry Potter in accordance with his parent's will. An arrest warrant for one Peter Pettigrew will be issued for aiding the murder of James and Lily Potter at a later date. The court is adjourned." The man watched in disbelief as the chains unwound themselves and he stood. Sirius Black got to his feet and met the icy gaze of Albus Dumbledore. He knew that were it not for Amelia's efforts he would have gone straight to Azkaban without a trial. He also knew that Dumbledore had placed Harry with his Aunt and Uncle. Sirius had once asked James and Lily, in jest of course, who would get Harry if something happened to them. The answer had been Sirius, then Remus, then Alice Longbottom...At no point had Lily mentioned her sister to him. A sister who had, by all accounts, hated Lily. Sirius strode out of the Ministry for Magic and basked for a moment in the sunlight. He made his way down a dirty alleyway and Disapparated.

Four days later, Sirius Black and Harry Potter went into seclusion. Albus Dumbledore had lost his chosen one.

* * *

_Make no mistake dear reader, that Harry Potter has his part to play in this tale. But he is not the main character. Oh no. It would be another ten years before our leading lady ventured into the magical world. It was in 1991, in a damp and dingy room when she took her first step._

* * *

Hermione scowled at the Professor. He towered over her, his long braided beard almost touching the floor. Her mother would have tutted at that. Facial hair was untidy, she'd tell her father when he forgot to shave. 

"So you are a wizard?" She asked doubtfully.

Professor Dumbledore resisted the urge to scowl back at the young girl. He hadn't had such trouble with a student in years. "Would you like a demonstration?" She nodded tightly, her fluffy brown hair escaping from its braid to form a mane around her face. He flicked the knobbly stick and levitated her bed. Hermione tried very hard not to be impressed. 

"What do you want with me?" She folded her arms and returned to her signature glare.

"You're a witch, Hermione." He smiled at her kindly and Hermione's eyes narrowed. "I've come to deliver your acceptance letter to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry." He handed her a letter. "This will explain everything. I've informed your carers that you will be attending a school for the gifted and that I'm taking you to buy your school supplies. Shall we?" He held out his hand expectantly.

"You just think I'm going to go with you? You, a representative from a school I've never heard of or applied for?" The tiny girl seemed to be amused by this. She shoved her hands into her pockets and stared at him. "Do you know what happens to kids who go off with weird old men?" There were a lot of pamphlets about this topic and Hermione had read all of them out of sheer boredom. "Are you going to offer me sweets, as well?"

Professor Dumbledore scowled. 

"Young lady," He started.

Hermione tipped her head back.

"STRANGER DANGER!" She screamed. The wizard glared at her and vanished before the social workers could arrive, leaving the letter on the floor. More fool him, Hermione admitted. One of the boys had worked out yelling that was a really good way to get attention a few months ago. Hermione would have to scream for quite a few minutes now before anyone came to check on her. As soon as she was certain he had gone, Hermione snatched it the letter and retreated to her bed to read it, her eyes skimming avidly over the thick parchment.

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all the necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31st of July._

_As you are a muggleborn witch there are instructions as to how to acquire your equipment enclosed._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress._

Hermione flicked past the book list to the instructions. They seemed simple enough. She glanced at her clock. It was four in the afternoon which was no time to go gallivanting through London, especially at the grand age of 11. Although she recognised the street name, and it was fairly close by. Hermione could hear the other children in the orphanage being summoned for chores and slid the letter under her pillow. She'd go tomorrow.

* * *

Hermione was an accomplished sneak. Breaking out of the orphanage hadn't been a problem and money wasn't one either. There were a lot of children at Lambeth and she'd very quickly learned that the quieter you were the easier it was to be forgotten. She was fairly confident that the money she had in her pocket would be enough. She'd been swiping it from the lawers in the posh black suits who sometimes came by for ages. They always carried an obscene amount of cash and weren't very good at keeping a firm hand on their jackets. 

The pub door was pained black and dingy, and Hermione stared at it in askance. A red-headed family wandered through in front of her and she followed them, shutting the thick door quietly. She walked closely behind them as they slipped around the bar and through a door at the back. Hermione couldn't see what the middle-aged mother at the front did but the brick wall they'd all been facing expectantly rippled back into an archway revealing a new street.

In her head she tried to rationalise that but only came up with one answer. Magic. All those things she couldn't explain were magic. Hermione glanced at the signs around her as she followed the family up through the street to a tall rickety white building, which Hermione assumed was a bank. It had the same air of stiff bureaucracy that the banks of the high streets of London had. The sign above the entrance read. "Gringotts.". The last time Hermione had been in a bank it had been with her mother and none of tellers looked like this. They were short creatures with long pointing ears, sparse hair and hooked noses. Many of them sat counting stacks of money, but this wasn't money as Hermione knew it. The thick buttery golden coins glinted in the candlelight and there was the steady background noise of clinking. It looked nothing like the roll of crumpled banknotes Hermoine had stuffed in her pocket. 

Summoning her courage Hermione walked up to a teller.

"Excuse me, Sir?" The clinking stopped and the creature blinked and looked at her in amazement.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if I'm allowed to use this money here?" Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out the thick wad of cash. It was about £300 in total and had taken her a while to accumulate.

"Muggleborn?" It asked as it reached out and counted the notes.

"I believe so." It grunted and sighed.

"Well you will have to exchange your notes for Galleons." Hermione frowned thinking of pirates.  
"Is that a currency?"

"Yes." The creature smiled icily as though there was nothing better than money as it finished counting the notes and tucked them under a heavy paperweight made of brass. It then produced a small velvet sack and began to deposit gold and silver coins into it. He tied the string and pushed it across the desk. "Two hundred and ninety-seven pounds exchanged for two hundred and seventy galleons and eighty sickles." He went back to counting and Hermione sensing this was her dismissal shrugged and took the sack.

The sunlight was bright when she got out and Hermione tucked the velvet bag into her satchel. Scowling slightly in the bright light, she read through the book list. A book shop would be a good start. She wandered down the street, wide-eyed at the things around her. A loud voice from further up the street caused her to turn and stare.

"I'm trusting you two to go and get your things. Behave." It was the red-haired woman from earlier. She was shouting at two boys who were walking down the street backwards. Hermione didn't have time to move before the pair crashed into her and she was knocked to the cobbles. The two boys got to their feet first, each holding out a hand. She glowered at them and got to her feet by herself.

"Watch where you're going will you?" The boys just stared at her, with identical expressions of confusion.

"Have we met?"

"No. I think I'd remember that." Hermione scowled and remembered her manners, albeit reluctantly. She stuck out a hand. "My name is Hermione."

"I'm Fred and he's George." Then continued to watch her in that almost unnerving manner.

"It's rude to stare you know." Hermione was losing her temper, something she only really had a loose grip on at the best of times. She turned to walk away and found she couldn't. The twins had linked arms with her and were dragging her down the street.

"What are you doing?"

"We're escorting you."

"Thought that was obvious."

"I can see that." She scowled. "My question is why?"

"Well, you're obviously a first year..."

"Who had no idea where she's going..."

"So we are doing the gentlemanly thing and helping," Fred smirked at her and they asked in unison. "Have you got your wand yet?"

"Er no. Can you two slow down please? I'm not a tall as you are." The twins slowed their pace accordingly and eventually stopped in front of a shop. _Olivanders,_ read the sign above the door.

"Here you go."

Hermione turned and looked at them. "Why are you doing this again?"

Fred looked at George and shrugged. "We really have no idea. Bye!"

And they were gone. Hermione shrugged. It wasn't as if she needed them anyway. She'd be fine on her own.

The bell above the door tinkled merrily and a wizened old man turned to face her, his back to the dusty racks of boxes.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Sir." Hermione did her best to stop scowling. It was one of those strange childhood lessons which stuck with you despite your best efforts.

"Looking for a wand?" She nodded quietly, fidgeting with the strap on her bag. The wizard stared at her for a moment before gesturing to a low stool. "Stand up there please."

She did as she was told and smiled nervously. The man, who she assumed must be Olivander as he looked as old as the shop, took various measurements and scribbled them down on a scrap of paper.

"Yew is definitely out." He muttered. "along with phoenix and unicorn." He wandered off into the dusty stacks and Hermione was left feeling rather foolish, alone on the pedestal. He bustled back holding a small pile, which he deposited at her feet.

"What's your name?" He asked distractedly.

"Hermione Granger."

He frowned. "I haven't had anyone by the name of Granger in here before. You must be muggleborn. Here. Try this." He handed her a wand made out of a pale wood that looked like oak or beech and was decorated with runic-like engravings.

A small table exploded into splinters and he took it back rather gingerly.

"Not that one." He handed her another, asking "What were you doing with Fred and George Weasley?"

A jet of what looked like mud shot out of the end of the wand and splattered across the floor. Hermione handed it back quickly.

"They were showing me where to go. How do you know them, Sir?" He smiled slightly at her.

"I remember every wizard and witch who has ever come in here. But twins are special. The require brother wands, which have the same core, similar to soul mates."

Hermione frowned. "Core?"

Olivander put down the next box he'd been considering and looked at her in delight as though the chance to impart knowledge was a rare and welcome opportunity.

"Yes, core. Each of these wands has a core of something inherently magical. That is what makes it a suitable conduit for your power. For example I believe dragon heartstring would be best for you. It's slightly harder to obtain, as most dragons will only be willing to part with one heartstring, although I once had one dragon give me three. For those who can wield it, it works very well."

"So the wands with the same heartstrings are brothers," Hermione realised.

Olivander nodded pleased. "Exactly. I wonder..." He strode off into the stacks until he vanished around a corner and Hermione could see no more of him. This day was turning stranger and stranger. At least, she rationalised, all this magic seemed to follow a set of rules. Wands from the same source were brothers, the same as seeds from the same plant were identical. Hermione stepped off the stool quietly and stood in the dust until Olivander returned holding a battered blue box.

"Here." He presented it to her proudly. "You remember your twins?"

"They are not my twins," Hermione muttered petulantly. "But yes."

"This is the only other brother of their wands. I'm just curious to see the effect it will have although I doubt it will be positive. I've had another wizard in here who had a brother wand this summer and I'm developing a theory about it." He gestured happily as he ducked behind the counter. "Give it a wave."

Hermione, feeling somewhat foolish by now, gripped the wand in both hands and flicked it. Confetti rained from the ceiling, collecting in her hair and covering the shop in a fine, pink, papery layer.

"Was it supposed to do that?"

Olivander watched her in shock, staring at the wand she held.

"No, it was not. But apparently this is the wand for you." He scowled, the lines on his faces bunching together. "I hate it when things don't make sense. Still a wand is a wand except when it's not. Vinewood, with dragon heartstring, ten inches long. Nice and powerful, good for defence and charm work. Seven galleons please."

Hermione dug around in her bag and produced a handful of coins, which she extended to Olivander.

"You may have to help me with this, Sir." She admitted, slightly embarrassed. Olivander nodded in understanding and picked seven large gold coins out of her hand. Then he wrapped up her wand in tissue paper, before tucking it back into the box. Olivander muttered something about this being the year for odd wand combinations and showed her out.

Tucking the box into her satchel Hermione smiled at the bright vibrancy of the street. After the orphanage where everything was painted an off sterile white, the selection of colours was wonderful, even if they were slightly overwhelming. Hermione stepped out from under the awning of Olivanders and was swept along in the busy crowd. Books, she thought desperately. I need books. Hermione came to rest in front of the Apothecary and after checking her equipment list, figured she might as well go inside. It was dark and gloomy, but also strangely inviting. The shop echoed with the bubbling of what Hermione suspected would be called cauldrons. A rich tapestry of smells assaulted her and for a second she struggled to breathe. The man behind the counter took one look at her and began to gather equipment.

"1st year at Hogwarts I assume?" His voice was quiet and calm and fit with the essence of his shop.

Hermione nodded and watched as he grabbed a small cauldron with a paper label reading, _Pewter size 2,_ and began to drop the other items into it. Hermione winced as the set of glass vials hit the bottom with a clang, but seemed to remain unbroken.

"Built-in safety charm." the man explained seeing her expression. "Stops nasty potion accidents from occurring." The brass scales went in last and he handed the heavy cauldron to her. "You can use that to store your books in when you get to Flourish and Blotts. That'll be four galleons and two sickles." Once again Hermione held out her hand and the man picked the money from it. 

Hermione thanked the man and left the shop, running her continued internal dialogue about foreign economies. Just one place left to go. The bookshop.

Hermione loved books. She always had, something her parents had always encouraged. However after their death she hadn't been able to take her library with her. She'd been left with the clothes she was standing in and nothing else. The orphanage didn't believe her when she told them about her love of books and her advanced reading ability. They'd told her to go colour something.

A flash of red distracted her and she smiled slightly when she spotted the twins. They had said they wanted to help, hadn't they? Besides they were really the only people Hermione knew here.

The two boys were standing with their noses pressed against the glass window of _Quality Quidditch Supplies_. Hermione coughed quietly and, without looking round, both hooked an arm around her and brought her closer to the window.

"Hello again," Fred muttered quietly, staring in awe at the display.

"What is that?" It looked like a broomstick, disturbingly similar to the one used to sweep the floor back at the orphanage.

The pair turned to gaze at her in amazement.

"It's a broomstick..."

"What does it looks like?"

"Must you do that? I can see that. I'm wondering what it does?" Hermione glared at them. "Will you two please let go of me?"

"Nope."

"Are you muggleborn? And what are we supposed to not be doing?"

She nodded. "Must you finish each other's sentences?"

"Yes..."

"I'm afraid..."

"That we must." They laughed at her.

"As for the broomstick," Fred continued. "It flies."

"Really?" She pressed her nose against the glass this time, ignoring the twin's smirks. "How does it do that?"

"Magic." George laughed. "Wow, Dad would love you."

"Why?" Hermione didn't tear her gaze away from the window and the sleek broomstick within.

"Because he loves anything to do with muggles. Have you got your books yet?"

The twins grinned in amusement at her reaction to the bookshop. In fact Hermione couldn't think of a time when they hadn't been smiling at something. It seemed to be ingrained into their DNA to find the silver lining to everything. With their help Hermione gathered her school books, plus several others, including one on broomsticks and their uses and was heading for the counter when Fred stopped her. He held out a book rather shyly and George nodded approvingly from his side. _Hogwarts: A History._

"You'll like this."

"It's very useful."

"How do you know that? You hardly know me." Hermione had argued. But she accepted the book anyway.

* * *

It was lunchtime when they eventually extricated themselves from the crowd of shoppers. Fred and George each carried a small stack of books which they tucked under their arms and various other shopping bags. Hermione had her cauldron, which was now weighed down by everything she'd bought and dragged a Hogwarts school trunk behind her. After Flourish and Blotts they'd visited Madam Malkin's and she'd equipped them with everything they'd need. Fred and George had apparently both grown over the last year and needed entirely new uniforms. Hermione's were plain black but the twins both had crests and red lining,

"It's because we're in Gryffindor," Fred explained.

"When you arrive they'll sort you into your house and your robes will change accordingly."

George had laughed at her unspoken question. "Magic, Hermione. Magic."

The Leaky Cauldron was still quiet and Hermione settled herself onto a sofa beside the boys.

"So next year you'll be in first year?" she nodded and they glanced at each other again. "Can we write to you?"

"Why would you want to do that?" She asked, confused. "Term starts next week. And I really wouldn't. No one knows I'm here and they read all the post we get."

As one they scowled.

"Then how did you get the money?" Fred cocked his head to one side in confusion.

Hermione blushed slightly. "You really don't want to know."

"Hmm." Both watched her with an expression that said they could probably guess but they mercifully left it at that.

"So will I see you at school?" She asked desperate to change the subject.

They nodded and she smiled weakly. Hermione didn't make friends easily but these two were...different. Special. "Can I ask you a favour?"

"Of course my dear lady." They swept long deep bows, doffing their invisible hats at her. She just raised an eyebrow.

"I can't take all this stuff home. Someone will notice and wonder where I got it from." Hermione twiddled her thumbs. "Would you mind taking my stuff home for me?"

"You want it back on the train?" George seemed to be trying to work out some impossible equation and had his tongue stuck between his teeth. "Yes, I suppose we could." He glanced at his brother and they nodded in unison. "We'll have to ask Mum though."

"Speak of the devil," Fred muttered.

Mrs Weasley came bustling through the back entrance of the pub and glared at her two sons in suspicion.

"What have you two done now?"

"That's all she ever greets us with..." Fred grinned at Hermione.

"Our dear mother believes nothing but the worst of us."

Mrs Weasley snorted in amusement. "That's because I raised the two of you. Now, who have you got there?"

Hermione was pulled to her feet by both twins, who had linked arms with her again and presented to their mother.

"This is Hermione," Fred stated.

"We found her," George added.

"Can we keep her?" They pleaded in unison, giving their mother identical puppy-eyed looks.

Mrs Weasley looked at her two sons and smiled in amusement. The last time they'd gotten like this had been over a kitten. "All right but you have to convince her parents."

The pair turned to Hermione.

"Where are your parents?"

"So we can ask if you can stay with us."

Hermione shrugged, "In Highgate cemetery." The boys grinned and turned back to their suddenly pale mother.

"Brilliant. How do we get there?"

Mrs Weasley smiled at her children in pity and sadness, before offering her condolences to Hermione. "I'm very sorry for your loss. Who brought you here?"

"No one." Hermione shrugged again. "I followed the instructions on the letter. And thank you. It's very kind of you to care."

Fred and George had gone pale. Their mother's words had sunk in and they stared at Hermione in a shocked silence.

"I had the money and Fred and George helped me to get to the shops. They've been very helpful." Hermione smiled at the still silent boys "Actually this is the first time they've been quiet all day."

Molly Weasley was maternal and she had been since her name had been Prewitt. She looked the girl over closely. She was pale and on the wrong side of thin, as though she hadn't been getting enough food and had spent more time inside than outside growing as she should have. Molly was suddenly filled with pride at her two sons, who'd taken her under their wing.

"Would you like to have lunch with us, dear?" She glanced at her sons. "They'll try and make you once they snap out of it."

Reluctantly Hermione nodded and allowed herself to be dragged off to the large table near the back of the room. Even in their catatonic states, Fred and George managed to glare at their younger brother and sat on either side of her, effectively blocking her in.

"I'm sorry," Fred began.

"We didn't know."

She smiled at them. "It's ok. No harm done." They relaxed slightly and eventually the rest of the Weasley clan sat and Mrs Weasley smiled as she introduced her.

"Everyone, this is Hermione. She's been kidnapped by Fred and George." Hermione blushed slightly and focused on eating her stew. She rather liked this strange family. 

"So where do you live?" Mrs Weasley asked. Hermione blushed slightly.

"Lambeth Orphanage." Fred and George turned their puppy dog looks back onto their mother.

"Please, can we keep her?"

She just chuckled and shook her head, watching the three with plain curiosity. Eventually the meal was over and Hermione handed her cauldron to Fred and her trunk to George. The only thing she kept was her satchel which she filled with the books they'd bought.

"Thanks for looking after this for me." They both nodded as their mother looked on in amazement at the tiny girl.

"We'll see you soon. Okay?" Hermione nodded somberly and grinned at them.

"September 1st, between Platform 9 and 10 at 10:30."

The twins nodded in approval. "Don't be late," they warned. She smiled back and nodded before leaving the Leaky Cauldron and heading back into muggle London.

* * *

Lambeth Orphanage was not a cruel place, or at least not intentionally. However no one really seemed to care what happened to the occupants and they were left to their own devices. Which was how, Hermione as an 11 year old girl was able to slip out for almost half a day and return with none of her carers any the wiser. After a meagre dinner of fish fingers and beans, which made her glad she'd eaten her fill at lunch, Hermione returned to her room. Most occupants were forced to share rooms in order to save space and install good social skills. Hermione however was given a tiny room all of her own, because the other children refused point-blank to share with her. She lay on her bed flicking through _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration_ , when a knock came at the door. Quickly kicking her satchel under the bed and dropping a pillow over the book, Hermione sat up in time for the door to open. He was back. Professor Dumbledore regarded her with something akin to dread as the tiny girl stared him down.

"What are you doing back here?"

He flinched at her accusing tone. "I came back to apologise. It was unnecessary for me to lose my temper last night. I was under a lot of stress."

Hermione merely raised an eyebrow. "Is that it?"

"That and I wished to take you shopping for your school supplies tomorrow."

"Much like your temper tantrum last night, that will be unnecessary." She parroted his words back at him and resisted the urge to stick out her tongue.

Dumbledore frowned. Most adults did when Hermione got snarky.

"Have you decided not to go to Hogwarts?" He asked, reaching for what she now knew was his wand. 

Hermione snorted. "Hardly. I have already bought all my school supplies today." She fished out her Transfiguration book for proof. "I will be on the train next week, Professor."

"Did you go on your own?" He demanded. 

She nodded.

"Where is your trunk?"

"Hidden. I presume you've told the Head care worker where I will be going next week?"

He nodded silently, his face pale behind his long beard which he wore tucked into his belt.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" She asked, trying to make it obvious that she wanted him to leave. 

"No, Miss Granger. I think you've done everything." She nodded as though she'd suspected as much and stood to open the door, brushing past him as she did so.

"Well, then I shall see you when term starts. Good night Professor." And she shut the door in his face.

Hermione waited until she was sure he had gone before she opened her hand. In it was a small cigarette lighter, made of silver and engraved. She giggled slightly as she realised she'd just pickpocketed her new Headmaster. Hermione clicked it and the lights went out. She clicked it again and a small ball of light shot back to the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling which flickered into life again.

Hermione smiled and tucked the lighter in her pocket. Could be useful, she reasoned.

* * *

In the Weasley home two, thirteen-year-old boys considered the trunk and cauldron sitting on their bedroom floor. Their mother had been ecstatic that they had, for once, decided to do something helpful. She'd even given them extra pudding which had annoyed their little brother Ron.

"Do you think she'll be ok?"

Fred turned to his brother and sighed. "I don't know. She can look after herself though."

They sat down on their respective beds and glared at the calendar. Just five more days.

"I wonder if Dad knows anything about muggle orphanages?"


	2. Harry Black and the Book Thieves

Mrs Weasley was watching her worried sons with no small amount of amusement. Her two, normally carefree boys, had been reduced to monosyllabic sentences by a girl they'd only known for three hours. She wondered that if they hadn't found out she lived in an orphanage, then perhaps they wouldn't have worried so much. The only thing they knew about them was from stories she'd read to them as children, where orphanages were horrible places, that people needed to be rescued from. But that had been a long time ago and so they hadn't been sure if it was just fairy tales. So they'd asked their father about them. Perhaps letting them read _Oliver Twist_ had been a bad idea, but her husband had been so keen to help when they'd come to him for muggle related knowledge. After reading it the pair were reduced to worriedly glancing at the calendar and humming odd tunes under their breath. The station clock clicked to 10:30 and, as if summoned by their pacing, Hermione appeared.

* * *

She was tired and frazzled. Walking across London does that to the best of adults and here was she at 11 years old trying to do the same, without getting stepped on. She pushed her way through the throng of people until she found Platform 9 and 10. She adjusted her satchel, which contained all of her possessions and soldiered on. There was Mrs Weasley, standing by several trolleys, as she watched her various children. Ron and Ginny were sticking close to their mum, Hermione noted with some disgust that Ron had dirt on his nose. Percy was swelling with his own self-importance and, standing by her trunk, was Fred and George, each with an almighty scowl on his face. Mrs Weasley spotted her and waved her over.

"Hello, Hermione." She smiled back at the witch and nodded, although she wasn't quite sure what she was agreeing to.

Fred and George appeared at her shoulder, firing questions at her in rapid succession.

"Are you all right?"

"Did they starve you?"

"Did they try and sell you at the market?"

Hermione turned back to Mrs Weasley in question who rolled her eyes.

"Sorry about this, dear. My husband let them read _Oliver Twist._ It's a muggle book. Have you heard of it?" Hermione nodded in amusement to show that she had. "Ah well, you see I think they may have gotten the wrong impression about where you live." Fred and George's attention snapped back to their mother and they fixed her with identical glares.

"You mean to say you let us worry..."

"For the last week about Hermione..."

"Without thinking to tell us..."

"That we were being silly?"

Mrs Weasley grinned impishly, a look that took years off her slightly plump face. "Well, you didn't think you got your sense of mischief from your father. Did you?"

The twins stared at their mother as though they couldn't quite get their heads around what she was telling them.

"I do think, dear Fred that we've been pranked by our mother."

Fred nodded. "I agree."

Hermione took the opportunity to try and edge out from under their arms, which they'd flung across her shoulders. They tightened their hold and refused to let her go without even glancing at her. Hermione growled and lost her temper, stamping hard on their feet. She shot off to drop her stuff in her trunk before they could finish cursing.

Eventually they were on to the platform, each Weasley child and Hermione dragging a Hogwarts trunk behind them. The entrance to the platform had worried her slightly, but Hermione had followed Fred willingly through the wall, with George close on her heels. Steam billowed off the cherry-red train, and the busy platform teemed with students and parents. Fred and George said goodbye to their mother and sister, helping Ron and another first-year boy on to the train with their trunks. Hermione took the opportunity to wave to Mrs Weasley and high tail it to the other end of the platform. Honestly, she thought to herself, they're being ridiculous. I'm not theirs to smother.

* * *

Eventually she found an empty compartment, which she dragged her trunk into. With some difficulty, she shoved her truck into the luggage rack, after she fished out her uniform. Once changed she settled down in the corner and safe in the gentle rocking of the now moving train, she began to read through _Hogwarts: A History._ Although it was a small book, only about 600 pages, she had been amazed at the incredibly large amount of information contained within the small print. She was just learning about the four founders when the door to her compartment slid open.

"Excuse me?" She glanced up at the other first-year the twins had helped onto the train. He was taller than her and had longish dark hair which hid his forehead and most of his eyes. Like her he was dressed in school robes, leaning against the door in a sort of cool arrogance.

"Yes?" Hermione didn't even lower the book, just flicked a glare at him over the top.

"Are you Hermione?" She nodded and he stuck his head back into the corridor.

"OI!" She jumped and glared at him. He merely grinned at her and stuck his head back outside. "You two. I've found her." He shut the door and sat down opposite her. "Sorry about that. Your boyfriends have been going spare looking for you."

"I don't have a boyfriend." Hermione glared at him. "Who are you?"

"Apologies." He stuck out a hand which she shook somewhat reluctantly. "I'm Harry Black. And you are?"

"Very annoyed." Hermione gave him one last glare and raised her book again. She hadn't even begun to find her place when the door shot open again to reveal the twins. They sighed in relief when they saw her and dropped into the seats next to her.

"Where did you go?" Both glared at her accusingly.

"We were worried about you."

"You should be more worried about yourselves, she looks ready to choke you." Harry grinned at the death glares he received and raised his hands in surrender. "Shutting up."

Hermione turned back to the twins.

"I got on the train. Where else would I be?" Fred snatched the book out of her hands before she could hide behind it again and slipped it behind his back.

"As interesting as this book is..."

"And believe us we know..."

"It's not really a good substitute for conversation. So tell us, Harry Potter, why does your truck say Black?"

The boy went pale, losing some of the arrogance in his features.

"Because we're not fooled by that glamour charm mate." Fred continued mercilessly, "Our mum has a photo of James and Lily Potter on the mantlepiece."

Black grinned quietly. "Not a glamour charm. Do you know she's reading again?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, George would you?"

George reached over and removed _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_ and added it to the pile.

"So not a glamour charm?"

"It's a magical adoption." All three boys turned to Hermione in surprise. "What?" She snapped. "I'm an orphan. What is the first thing I'm likely to look up?"

"She's right." Harry murmured watching her in surprise.

"Explain," Fred demanded.

Hermione sighed and reached above her head pulling _Family: Law and Bonds,_ out of her bag. She flicked through it and rotated her book so they could see.

"It's a potion which changes the child's DNA. It's only done in very rare circumstances, although I have no idea what yours would be." Harry grimaced slightly, scanning the page. "If only one parent wishes to adopt a child the potion will replace the characteristics of that parent. For example if Harry had inherited blond hair from his original father, it would be replaced with the hair colour of his new father."

"You are terrifyingly smart," George whispered in awe.

"Just well-read. So who was it?"

"Hmm?" Harry glanced up at her. "Oh. Sirius Black adopted me. In truth, I don't look much different now from what I did. I think. My dad and Sirius were almost identical anyway although my dad needed glasses. Sirius says I look more like a Black, whatever that means, but since both wizarding families were so closely related it didn't really matter. I've still got my mothers features though, like my eyes." He shrugged and she closed the book with a snap.

"So we were right..."

"You are Harry Potter?"

"Who?" Hermione slipped the book back into her trunk and pulled out her potions textbook.

"Is she being serious?" Harry sounded disbelieving.

"Yeah. Muggleborn." George teased.n 

"Bless her poor ignorant heart."

Harry gazed at her less than impressed expression and smiled. "I think I'm in love."

Hermione, true to form, raised an eyebrow and turned the page in her book.

* * *

By the time the four of them reached Hogsmead Station, Hermione had had all of her books confiscated and gained three friends. The twins were hilarious, if irritating and Harry only added to the eclectic mix. Hermione and Harry made their way off the train after bidding goodbye to the twins and joined the rest of the first years making their way towards the massive groundskeeper.

"That's Hagrid," Harry muttered to her. "Sirius says he's all right, if a bit mental."

They were led to the boats, which they shared with Neville Longbottom, a quiet boy who kept a firm hand on the toad he kept in a box on his lap and Susan Bones, whose Aunt Harry apparently knew. After being dragged up the pathway to the main entrance the first years were handed over into the guidance of a Professor McGonagall, who Hermione approved of. She reminded her of her grandmother, a strict intelligent woman who had hidden her softer nature until you knew her well. The anti-chamber they were led into was unimpressive and once McGonagall had finished her speech about house pride Hermione turned back to Harry.

"Do you know what is going to happen?"

"We'll be sorted into Houses. Uncle Remi told me it's a very simple process although he wasn't too specific about the details." Harry adjusted his fringe and turned to her. "Can you see my scar?"

"Nope." Hermione fidgeted nervously. She wasn't scared as such, just worried. Worried she'd be the odd one out once again. Harry smiled slightly and laced his fingers through hers.

"Stop worrying. It'll be fine. Honestly if the twins can make it through this then we can too."

Hermione nodded and accepted that he was probably right.

* * *

The first years were led down the main aisle of the Great Hall. Fred smiled at his brother.

"Gryffindor for sure. The pair of them."

"I don't know. With a name like Black, Harry's got a lot of bad history behind him."

Percy hissed at them to shut up and they lapsed back into excited silence.

"What about Hermione?" George muttered. 

"She's brave..." Fred mused

"Without a doubt. Clever too."

"Either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor for her then." Both twins glared at Percy for his interruption and smiled at the sorting hat's song. All too soon McGonagall was working her way down her list.

"Abbot, Hannah"

"HUFFLEPUFF"

"Black, Harry."

"GRYFFINDOR." The twins erupted into applause and cheered Harry as he sat down next to them.

"Do you think Hermione will be okay?" he asked, watching their reactions worriedly.

"That little Amazon?"

"She'll be fine."

The group of first-years continued to dwindle.

"Goyle, Gregory."

"SLYTHERIN."

"Granger, Hermione."

The girl stepped cautiously up to the hat and placed it on her head. It fell down to well over her eyes, but her posture never wavered and she sat up tall and proud. The hall was silent for the five seconds it took for the hat to make its decision.

"GRYFFINDOR."

Hermione hopped off the stool, handed the hat to McGonagall and walked quietly to the Gryffindor table. Fred and George pulled her down to sit next to them, wrapping their arms around her as they congratulated her. She made faces at Harry over their shoulders, but he just chuckled and refused to help.

The feast progressed as normal from then on. The food was served and all four ate, although Hermione only managed a little portion of the incredibly rich food. Dumbledore's announcements made the twins grumble and the school song was sung. The twins and Harry sang it slowly to a funeral dirge and were conducted by a grinning Dumbledore as they eventually finished. Hermione refused to sing and simply glared at them the whole time. Perfect Percy, as the twins had dubbed him, led the first years up to Gryffindor tower, although he was dogged by Fred and George who flicked pieces of parchment at him when he wasn't looking.

* * *

_And would be looked back on as an important occasion in our group's history. Harry Potter had achieved his deception in hiding his true identity from Albus Dumbledore and gained the trust of three new friends. Throughout the year, the friends would grow closer and help each other through various trials. As for Hermione... Well, it should be said that the Sorting Hat considered Ravenclaw. When asked later why it didn't place her there he said that nothing was braver than loving when you have lost. He also added that Hermione had threatened to set him on fire if she was separated from her new friends._ ****


	3. Can't Sleep, Won't Sleep

Hermione sighed and got out of her four poster bed. There was nothing for it. She hadn't slept and at four-thirty in the morning she wasn't going to. She dressed in her school uniform and made her way down to the common room, book in hand. The fire had reduced itself to a small pile of smouldering embers and Hermione grinned in the half-light. The orphanage had never had open fires due to fanatical opinions about health and safety and Hermione's obsession with it would have caused her more problems than she needed, had it become common knowledge. But her parents had always had a fire roaring in the library of their house and it was from that fire that Hermione had done her first piece of accidental magic. Hermione watched the fire and clicked her fingers. A small bundle of bluebell coloured flames appeared there and sat, quite happily, in her open palm. It wasn't hot, or at least it wasn't to her. Watching them with a sort of bemused detachment she dropped the flames into a jar she had brought for the purpose. As the flames didn't require oxygen she could quite easily screw a lid on and use it as a portable candle. After repeating the same thing with the fireplace, Hermione immersed herself in the fine art of potion-making and only emerged when footsteps came down the boy's staircase. She watched over the top of her book as Fred and George Weasley, clad in their initialled knitted jumpers and pyjamas, made their way across to the portrait hole on the far side.  
"Are you coming, Hermione?"

She jumped, having thought herself unnoticed by the twins. "Where are you two off to?"

"Kitchens," George answered as they turned to smile at her. Fred held out his hand and, somewhat reluctantly, Hermione put down her book and joined them. The Fat Lady merely sighed at the twins and shut her portrait quietly behind them. They set off down the corridor moving swiftly, but quietly.

"Why are we going to the kitchens? And why are you wearing the wrong jumpers?"

Both twins stopped and looked at her. "How do you know that?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm very observant. So why the kitchens?"

Fred glared at her but shrugged it off. "We need chocolate. It's for an idea we have."

"All right." The trio advanced down through the corridors Fred on Hermione's left and George on her right. The portrait with the pear was all too eager to let them into the kitchens and swung forward, giving Hermione a glimpse of the cavernous stone room beyond. The twins left Hermione outside as a "lookout". She rolled her eyes and kicked at the stone wall, scuffing her school shoes something shocking, a small rebellion against the vile Mary Janes. When the twins finally reappeared, laden down with a basket, they began to make their way back to the common room, striding confidently through the corridors.

"So why do you need chocolate?"

The boys grinned at each other and Fred answered "We are planning to lace it with a drowsiness potion and distribute it amongst the Slytherins. Make them fall asleep in class and get detention."  
"Subtle yet dastardly." Hermione smirked in appreciation. "But why did you need to do this at four in the morning?"

George grinned. "It's very clever really. We can't get in trouble for staying up late, because technically we're getting up very early. In _Hogwarts: A History_ the school rules clearly state that students are allowed to rise with the sun. The sun is _almost_ up so we can't get in trouble."

"You two are smarter than I give you credit for." Hermione grimaced slightly and rubbed her eyes, masking a yawn.

"So why were you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep." Hermione yawned properly at this point and both boys frowned.

"Why not?"

"New place, strange people? Nervous about class?" She offered an array of excuses. "I figured I might as well get dressed and I was reading in the common room when you dragged me out here." They had reached the Fat Lady's portrait by this time and Hermione leaned on Fred as George stepped through the entrance carrying the basket. The trio settled on one of the sofas and Hermione picked up her book again.

Fred nabbed it. "You need to go to sleep, Twist."

Hermione giggled slightly as she reached for her book. "Twist?"

"Like in that book we read. Oliver Twist. It's either that or Amazon." George slung an arm around her shoulder.

"But I'm not sleepy." Fred laughed as she yawned.

"Liar. We'll wake you in time for breakfast."

Hermione nodded and found that suddenly she could sleep. Resting her head on the side of George's chest, with her legs tucked up under her and Fred on her other side she felt tired and peaceful. With a mental note to point out they were not in charge of her when she woke up Hermione drifted off to sleep.

* * *

George glanced down at the sleeping girl and sighed.  
"Have you noticed how little she smiles?"

Fred frowned slightly. Some of her hair had pulled free of her braid and was curled around her pale face. When her strong personality wasn't in effect you could see how truly thin she was. As she lay against him, Fred could feel how little her body weighed.

"It's not right for a first year to be so..." Fred searched his mind for the right word.

"Resigned." His brother answered. It was the perfect description. Hermione was very rarely excited. Worried, occasionally, but she was so used to life that she regarded it with the jaded eye of someone who has seen the worst and kept living. Nothing phased her.

"What do you think of Harry?"

"He seems all right." George shifted slightly to check the stairs were still empty and smiled at his twin. "What with his charming nature and Hermione's genius I think we may have found our own Marauders.

"You reckon?" Fred gazed into the fire thoughtfully. "You know, it's amazing that fire hasn't gone out yet."

* * *

Classes started that morning. Some, like Transfiguration, was brilliantly taught, if slow going. Others like Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by the disturbing Professor Quirrel, were...a disappointment. He seemed perfectly content to let the class rot and fail and Hermione couldn't help but wonder aloud to Harry, why on earth Professor Dumbledore had hired him.

"I seriously doubt as to whether he has had any practical instruction in Defense." Hermione glowered at the Teachers Table, before returning to her lunch. "I hate knowing that I'm not learning anything useful. I've read that wretched textbook cover to cover. It's useless." Fred and George watched her, clearly amused. The only time their Amazon got worked up about something was when it came to teaching.

"We could give you our second year books." George suggested.

Hermione's eyes widened and she stared at them as though they'd offered her the world in a single bound volume. "You mean that?"

Fred nodded. "We'd have to get mum to send us them but if we told her it was for you then I doubt she'd complain."

"What's this?" Harry tuned back into the conversation, helping himself to a nearby sandwich.  
"Hermione is complaining about the substandard teaching services provided within the hallowed walls of Hogwarts."

Harry grinned. "Ah, the usual then."

"The twins have offered me their second year text books."

"Why don't you go see McGonagall?" George suggested. Hermione frowned slightly and he continued. "She'd be more than happy to give you advanced reading material. And having a model student as our friend makes us look good too."

"You're diabolical, Gred Weasley."

* * *

Hermione discovered she was well ahead of the rest of her year and that included those students who had come from pureblood households. Eventually, she did appeal to her Head of House, Professor McGonagall. She had regarded the young girl with blatant curiosity. Miss Granger never spoke out in class. She never asked questions and her assignments were turned in on time. McGonagall had heard similar reports from Charms, Herbology and to her great surprise Potions. It would seem that Professor Snape valued quiet students who didn't ask annoying questions.

"I can supply you with extra reading material. But unless you want to skip into the year ahead?" She paused and the girl shook her head vehemently, "Then I suggest you get a hobby. Can you play Quidditch? Or chess?"

"I've never tried Quidditch." Hermione shrugged "I'd be willing to try, but first years are not allowed to play on the House teams. With the exception of Harry of course."

"Mr Black was a rare exception." McGonagall rummaged through the sheaves of parchment on her desk and pulled out a slightly grubby scrap, which appeared to have been torn from a Quidditch magazine. "Madam Hooch said you were an adequate flyer. " Hermione shrugged again, but there was a slight smile hanging around her lips. "I will contact Oliver Wood about giving you some extra flying lessons. In the meantime" She wrote on a spare piece of parchment. "This is a pass into the restricted section. I will trust that you use it with integrity and show Madam Pince any books that you check out. To make sure you don't read anything you shouldn't."

Hermione nodded, accepted the pass and left quietly.

* * *

"Wow." Fred stared at her as though she'd just told him that Snape was dancing the can-can on the battlements.

"McGonagall let you loose on the entire Library?" Harry stared in amazement. "That's like Grindlewald being given Merlin's wand. Does she realise what she's unleashed on Hogwarts?"

Hermione glared at him for the analogy and glanced around the deserted corridor. "Where's George?"

"Still getting changed." The two mud-splattered Quidditch players smiled at her, Harry looking like a shorter, black-haired twin, with his mischievous grin.

"She also said she wanted Oliver Wood to give me extra flying lessons so I'm not so bored, but I'm not sure about that."

"And why not, oh daring First Year of genius?" George approached from behind them and wrapped an arm around her in greeting. The hug was quick but affectionate and Hermione smiled slightly.

"Because I'd rather not draw attention to myself." Hermione shrugged and smirked at Harry. "Did you do that DADA essay yet?"

"Yes. Honestly, it's as though he's not trying to teach us anything." Harry gesticulated wildly and Hermione watched him with amusement as mud flew off his hands and splattered the walls.  
Fred and George watched the pair walk off slowly down the corridor.

"We show them the map soon?" George nodded and Fred smiled. Hogwarts wouldn't know what hit it.

* * *

When McGonagall had said "Extra flying lessons", Oliver Wood had taken it to mean "a new reserve player". Quidditch was a strange game. Hermione had read the books and listened to Wood's instructions and her flying improved slowly but steadily. Oliver Wood took to throwing bread rolls and fruit at her in the corridors and seeing if Hermione dropped one. Hermione had taken to throwing them back. Hard. Apparently a short temper and a good throwing arm were the makings of a fine chaser. Hermione wouldn't be allowed to play until her second year, so she spent Quidditch practises being trained by the existing players. Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet raced her up the pitch, throwing the Quaffle to each other. Hermione only had to get it off them. It was like a game of piggy-in-the-middle, but played twenty feet in the air at high speed. Hermione had been worried that the older girls would resent having a back-up chaser encroach on their territory but they'd actually seemed relieved to have her.

"Now we don't have to worry about Oliver if we get sick." Katie had explained on the way to the changing rooms. "Last year he dragged Angelina out of the Hospital Wing with the flu."

Angelina snorted with amusement. "You should have seen him. He flung me over one shoulder and ran at full pelt through the school, with me sneezing all over his back. Madam Hooch was forced to admit there is no rule about tying a chaser to her broomstick and let me play."

"Did you win?"

The girls laughed. "Yes. Katie and Alicia worked overtime. Oliver got two weeks detention from Madam Pomfrey though."

* * *

Ollivander's words about brother wands had been forgotten by Hermione. It was unusual that she forgot anything so perhaps it would be better to say that she simply relegated the information to the back of her mind. She was finally busy and happy. The Library opened a wide range of possibilities and Quidditch gave her an appetite to gain back some bodyweight. Sleeping was still an issue although she was careful not to let the twins know. Hermione could tell they worried about her. Partly because they shot her nervous glances at her whenever she yawned and partly because Harry had taken her to one side of the common room and told her.

"They're worried about you."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"Because you don't smile enough. You don't eat enough and they can tell you've not been sleeping." Harry glared at her running his hands through his hair in agitation. Hermione flattened it down again, muttering about his scar. Hermione, the Twins and Susan Bones were the only one who knew the truth about Harry's identity and Harry preferred to keep it that way. No one had made the connection between Harry Black and the Harry Potter whose guardian was Sirius Black. It was things like this that made Hermione doubt the collective intelligence of the magical population.

"Do I look like I've not been sleeping?"

Harry winced, detecting the mildly offended tone to her voice. Growing up with Sirius Black, infamous playboy had given him a slight insight in the workings of a witches mind.

"You look fine Twist. I can't tell that you haven't been sleeping. But apparently the Twins can."

* * *

In truth, Hermione hadn't slept a full nights sleep in almost four years. After her parents' death there had been too much grief and nightmares. Eventually, it simply became a habit and the lack of rest didn't have much of an effect on her. But sometimes it was nice to sleep. It was two in the morning on the 19th of September and Hermione had decided the best present she could give herself was a good nights sleep. She shrugged on her dressing gown and crept down the girls staircase, wand in hand, knowing the girls in her dormitory would love to catch her out at night. The boy's staircase wasn't charmed like it's counterpart and Hermione wandered up past the First and Second-year doors until she reached the third years. Hermione opened the door quietly and stepped inside. The room contained three beds, two along one wall and one by the window. Hermione could tell by the dreadlocks poking out from under the duvet which bed belonged to Lee Jordan. The other two were the twins. Silently thanking the Sorting Hat for the small intake to Gryffindor two years ago, Hermione picked a bed at random and slipped under the covers and curled up. It wasn't long before she had drifted off. Fred turned over in his sleep and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head as he did so.

* * *

George woke first. Silently cursing the morning sunlight, he swung his body out of bed and stood, swaying slightly. It wasn't until he'd come back from the bathroom that he finally noticed what his subconscious had been desperately trying to tell him.

He stopped.

He stared.

He scratched his head in confusion and woke up Lee.

"'iss off."

"Wake up. I need to check something."

"Wha?" Lee sat up and stared blearily around.

"Is that Twist asleep in my brothers' bed?"

"Yeah. Let me sleep, you moron." Lee flopped back down, asleep before he hit the mattress. George wandered over to his brother's bed and shook him awake.

"Georgie? Why are you in my bed?"

"I'm not." George started to laugh quietly.

"Then who am I cuddling?" Fred refused to open his eyes, wanting to hold on to the last vestiges of sleep while he still could.

"That would be Hermione." Fred's eyes snapped open. He glanced down at the sleeping girl and frowned.

"What's she doing in my bed?" His brother shrugged. "Should I wake her?"

"Bloody hell. No." George lowered his voice to a whisper. "This is the first time she's slept properly since the first day of school. Leave her be."

Fred carefully maneuvered his way out the bed and stood next to his brother, staring down at her in confusion.

"It worries me."

"What does?"

"The way we know she hasn't been sleeping properly. Harry thinks she's fine."

"Harry is unobservant. We're not."

"Still..." Fred trailed off. George shrugged.

"Get dressed in the bathroom. I'll wake up Lee again and tell him to be quiet."

"You don't have to." Lee muttered into his pillow. "I hate you two you know."

"Nah." The twins grinned. "You love us."

* * *

The twins found Harry and dragged him up to their room. The three of them sat on George's bed and watched Hermione sleep.

"You two realise how creepy this is?" Harry smirked at them. "What was she even doing in your bed anyway?"

"We're not sure. We woke up and there she was." Fred murmured making frantic hand gestures for Harry to keep his voice down. "And we're not creepy."

"The two of you are watching the girl whose got you wrapped around her finger sleep. That's creepy."

George scowled. "We're not wrapped around her finger. And we're not watching her. We're waiting for her to wake up."

"Oh so why don't you do THIS!" And before the twins could stop him, Harry launched himself from Georges bed, leaping over the gap to land on Hermione's knees. Hermione sat bolt upright and punched him in the face. Harry toppled off the bottom off Fred's bed with a thump, clutching his nose and Hermione looked around herself confused. Muffled cursing could be heard from the floor, but neither twin seemed inclined to help.

"What's going on?" Hermione looked around for someone to blame for her sore hand and glared at the twins. "What did you do?" Fred and George smiled innocently and pointed at the floor at the foot of the bed. Hermione crawled forward, grateful for her thick flannel pyjamas to see Harry lying in a heap. "Who punched you in the face?"

The twins burst into peals of laughter and Harry scowled. Hermione's brain woke up and connected the laughter with her hand and the bloody nose.

"Ah. I'm...sorry?" She stretched out a hand to help him up. Harry perched on the end of the bed just out of her reach, watching her warily. Fred handed him an old sock to stem the flow of the bleeding and wandered over to sit on Hermione's left. George had perched on her right and the four of them looked at each other before laughing. Wiping tears from his eyes with his bloody sock Harry stared at Hermione.

"So tell me. What exactly was a lowly first year doing sleeping in the bed of renowned ladies man Fred Weasley?" The twins stopped laughing and watched her with interest.

"I couldn't sleep." Hermione blushed slightly. "I figured I deserved a good nights sleep, today of all days and I remembered the last time I'd slept properly was on the sofa in the common room. I'm sorry if I bothered you." Harry smirked slightly as the twins frowned.

"Today of all days?" George asked.

"Oh it's nothing."

"Uh huh." The twins each raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

Harry grinned. "Do you two practise that in front of a mirror?"

George gasped "How dare you insinuate such untruths about us?"

"You impinge upon our honour, young Black."

Hermione giggled and the twins turned back in shock.

"Did you just giggle?" Fred asked. Hermione blushed again.

"Yes. I do sometimes." Hermione stuck her tongue out at them and the tension was broken. "Can I ask you lot a question?"

"Anything Twist."

"How are you going to get me out of the boy's dormitory without everyone in the common room seeing?"

"Ah." Hermione looked around at the blank faces of her friends and sighed.

"Hang on." Fred murmured. "I've got just the thing."

Hermione raised an eyebrow in disbelief. The eyebrow only got higher when Fred reached under his pillow and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. "What is that?"

George smirked at her and tapped the parchment with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Ink spread rapidly across the page and Hermione watched in wonder as it sketched out a message.

_Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauders Map_

Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by a snarl of rage from the foot of the bed.

* * *


	4. Troll

Harry glared at the twins, so furious red sparks of accidental magic were singeing the bedsheets.

"Where did you get that?" The voice was Harry's but it was tightly controlled and deep.

"First year, we nicked it from Filch's office." The Twins went on the offensive and glared right back at him. Hermione didn't think they even realised they'd shifted forward to shield her.

"It's mine." Harry snarled.

They scoffed slightly. "Yeah right. We found it. It's ours."

"It belongs to the son of the Marauders, not a pair of lunatic twins." Hermione couldn't tell, being stuck behind them, but she suspected Harry was being faced with a pair of identical dumbfounded expressions.

"Son?"

"You mean to say that we've been friends with our idol's son..."

"And no one thought to tell us?"

Harry's voice sounded slightly amused and seemed to have calmed down somewhat. Not that Hermione, could see. "Moony, Padfoot and Prongs were friends while they were at Hogwarts. They were just stupid nicknames. Moony was Remus Lupin, Padfoot was Sirius Black and Prongs..."

"Was James Potter." Hermione interrupted, tugging at the Twin's shoulders to try and see Harry.

"Will you two stop the overprotective act? Please?" Reluctantly the boys leaned back and Hermione arched an eyebrow. "Thank you. What about Wormtail?"

Harry flinched slightly. "We don't talk about him."

Hermione nodded and Harry smiled his thanks at her. "Anyway, Sirius told me they'd lost the Map on their last day at Hogwarts and it was never seen again. Not that they'd needed it. He'll be thrilled that I found it."

"Do you have a nickname?" Hermione glanced at the twin on her left in question and he continued. "It would seem logical that a group of friends with a penchant for nicknames would bestow one on their son. It's only logical." Hermione smiled slightly unable to dispute such a sound notion.

"Prongslet." Harry grinned slightly. "Remus said Sirius wrote it in my first birthday card and, much to my mother's horror, the name stuck. Muggles used to give Sirius really strange looks when he called me that."

"When were you around muggles?"

Harry grinned at her question "Sirius knew that it would be bad for me to grow up without any contact with children of my own age. So he enrolled me in a muggle nursery. I had to stop going when I started doing accidental magic."

The twins opened the map and quickly turned to Gryffindor tower, scanning the parchment.

"Looks to be clear right now. If you run." Hermione leapt off the bed, landing cat-like on the floor. Tossing her braid over her shoulder she ran from the room, leaving the stunned faces of her friends behind her.

"Did you know she could move that fast?"

* * *

_Now the point of this tale is not to relive every potions class and Quidditch game. I am a Professor of Charms, not a novelist. So with that in mind, we shall skip forward to Halloween, where this story begins to form some sort of relevance to our topic._

* * *

The group fell into an easy pattern. Every evening they'd sit in their corner of the Common Room, Hermione studying, the Twins on either side of her plotting and Harry working though his homework, tongue stuck between his teeth. By the end of October Fred and George had received six detentions and lost Gryffindor ninety house points. Nobody minded because the pranks were funny and Hermione earned the points back in her homework. Not that anybody knew that. Harry's hair had grown another inch and now had to be tied back during Quidditch practises, where his Seeker goggles covered the scar. Fred and George had received a signed photo from Sirius Black. According to Harry, Sirius kept a stack of these, in case he met a fan who asked for one. The Twins had made Hermione enchant the moving photograph so it would never burn or crumple because apparently the didn't trust themselves with something so precious. They had framed it and the waving and winking visage of Sirius Black stood on their bedside table, much to Harry's intense disgust. Hermione hadn't slept in the Twin's bed since her birthday.

It was a point of pride that the twins had never worked out what the 19th of September was to her. Keeping a secret when your best friends seemed telepathic was, after all, an achievement to be proud of, she thought to herself. Hermione was sitting at the bottom of the Grand Staircase watching Professor Flitwick enchant pumpkins to hang, glowing eerily from the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall. Dual sighs of amusement announced the arrival of Fred and George. The red haired third years settled on either side of her, one wrapping an arm around her waist, the other her shoulder. She'd never gotten an answer on why they were so tactile. Or how they always knew to back off when she was getting overwhelmed.

"So tell me oh 11 year old of greatest intellect, why are you sitting here, in the cold, on your own?" Fred smiled slightly, tugging her closer.

"I'm watching the decorations go up. You lot really take Halloween seriously don't you? Enjoy playing the stereotype much?"

George smiled. "Luckily for you, the Weasley Twins are here with a ready-made lecture on wizarding holidays."

"You see Halloween holds specific significance for wizards,"

"And witches," Hermione added.

"And witches," he agreed "Because we were originally a pagan nation, celebrating Sanheim held cultural importance for us. This is traditionally the day we remember the dead. For example, I know my mother has two glasses of Ogden's Finest sitting on the front porch of the house. For my Uncles Fabian and Gideon. The eerie thing is that by tomorrow the glasses will be empty."

Hermione shivered slightly. "Ogden's Finest?"

George grinned. "Alcoholic beverage, not suitable for tiny first years."

Hermione nodded in understanding and Fred took up the lecture.

"However in Britain Halloween has a specific importance. About ten years ago, on this very day, You-Know-Who was making his way up the garden path of a house in Godric's Hollow. The house of Lily and James Potter." Hermione was surprised to see the boys looking so serious, but she was intelligent enough to know where this was going. "He broke into their house, killed Lily and James and turned his wand on baby Harry Potter. He fired the killing curse, but something caused little Harry to deflect the curse and it rebounded upon You-Know-Who. He was destroyed, leaving baby Harry in the smoking ruins. Five or so days later, Harry Potter vanished from the wizarding world and since which he hasn't been seen again." Fred smirked at the last bit.

Hermione twined her fingers together and stared at the flagstones. "This is relevant to Halloween why?"

"Ah well, you see..."

"We're too young to remember this..."

"Considering we were only two at the time. However, Bill, Charlie and Percy all remember it."

"People were thrilled that the so-called Dark Lord had vanished. That it had been achieved by a baby didn't really matter to anyone. There were mass celebrations, families reunited, lots of drinking..."

"That sort of thing. People were so relieved to hear that they were safe. Our favourite quote comes from the Minister for Magic at the time."

George tipped his head back and smiled. " _I assert our inalienable right to party_."

"Classic."

"So Halloween marks the day we were free from living in fear of a mad despot. We like to celebrate that."

"But you're not." Hermione frowned up at them in confusion. 

Both boys glanced at her. "Not what?"

"Free from living in fear. Neither of you can say his name." Hermione glared at them. "How can you call that living without fear if neither of you can actually tell me what his name is?"

Fred looked at George and frowned. He'd never thought of it like that. Judging by the look on George's face, he hadn't either.

"You know something, Hermione?"

She smiled slightly, looking up at them. "I know many things, Fred."

"We don't actually know what his name is. But I know who we can ask."

* * *

"Professor Dumbledore is said to be the only person that You-Know-Who was ever actually scared of." George smiled at her scowl. Hermione's dislike of the Headmaster was well known amongst the four friends. The three of them were marching, well the twins were marching and Hermione was jogging to keep up, towards Dumbledore's office. The large stone gargoyle leapt aside with the mention of " _sugar mice_ "-Hermione was not surprised the twins knew the password. They spent enough time here in detention- and they jumped onto the spiralling staircase.

"Enter."

Whoever Professor Dumbledore expected to see upon their arrival it hadn't been them. Fred and George, he knew quite well. All he knew about Hermione was what he'd learned in the orphanage. They took seats in front of his desk, one twin on either side of the tiny girl, who glared at him.

"Good afternoon..."

"Not especially," Hermione muttered. Dumbledore frowned but chose to ignore the interruption.

"What can I do for you three?"

One twin looked at the other and they nodded in unison.

"We were wondering sir..."

"If you could tell us You-Know-Who's name."

He blinked "Can I ask why?" He looked incredibly surprised. That didn't really surprise the Twins. Even their mum didn't like saying You-Know-Who. 

"We had it pointed out to us today..." Fred started. 

"By Hermione," George interjected. 

"That by not saying his name we're confirming that he's going to return. It's like we're living in fear of something that was supposed to have been vanquished."

"And this fear is bred into young people from such an early grave it's like You-Know-Who is brainwashing them from beyond the grave. All the muggleborns know they should be scared of him but I don't even know who he is!" The Headmaster looked at Hermione in surprise as she finished the Twin's sentence.

"That is remarkably wise of you, Miss Granger." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. "Do you know why people were so afraid to say the name?"

All three shook their heads.

"The Dark Lord was immensely powerful and well versed in magic. He placed a taboo upon his name, making it so that anyone who was foolish enough to call him would receive a personal visit from his followers. A lot of the resistance died before we worked it out." Dumbledore sighed and tried to shrug off the weight on his shoulders. "When we did, we spread the word and no one used the name any more, because to do so was certain death. After Harry Potter defeated him, the habit stuck. The name was associated with such pain and fear that no one ever used his name again, with the exception of a select few such as myself. Are you sure you want to know?"

All three nodded. Dumbledore began to smile slightly at the bravery of these young Gryffindors. "Very well. He had two names. The first, his birth name, was Tom Marvolo Riddle. The second, oddly enough an anagram of the first was Lord Voldemort." None of them flinched. But then again why would they? It was only a name after all and they were too young to remember the pain or the suffering.

Hermione glared at him as though he was directly responsible for the troubles of the universe. "May I ask you a question?" The twins were silent now, each lost in their own thoughts. "What happened to Harry Potter? None of my History books go that far forward."

Dumbledore frowned. He didn't like to be reminded of his greatest failure. "Harry Potter was taken in by his Godfather Sirius Black. However, I was contacted several years later by Mr Black. He claimed he had his own son to look after, who I believe is in your year and would be sending his godson to France away from the damaging influence of the British wizarding community. I have searched high and low for Harry Potter, or even Sirius Black, but I've found neither. I believe Harry Potter may be attending Beauxbatons Academy of Magic under a false name. Other than that... I have honestly no idea."

Hermione nodded as though his explanation was found to be acceptable. She stood to leave, the twins rising in unison to stand next to her.

"Thank you, Professor." She admitted begrudgingly.

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Thank you for being the first group of people to care in ten years. Enjoy the feast tonight and have a happy Halloween." They nodded and left, leaving Dumbledore to stare at the walls in deep thought.

* * *

Hermione grabbed a twin in each hand and dragged them to the nearest abandoned classroom. She hopped up on to a desk, her legs swinging slightly.

"Sirius Black is a genius." She breathed, her eyes wide. Fred and George smirked in amusement. Hermione was almost never impressed.

"Go on then..."

"Tell us why..."

"You know your dying to."

Hermione glanced up at them and grinned, her smile like a flash of moonlight in the dark classroom.

"Sirius Black managed to completely trump Albus Dumbledore, a wizard supposedly on par with Merlin. And he did it with one simple lie."

The Twins grinned.

"Twist you may be onto something. But how did he manage to get away with naming his own son Harry?"

Hermione paused for a moment but had an answer almost immediately.

"Have you two not been listening to Harry's Marauders stories? Sirius and James were the greatest pranksters the worlds ever seen. Aside from you two." They smiled broadly at her. "Can you imagine how funny they would think it was to name both their sons the same thing? Dumbledore would see it as the Marauders last prank. Perhaps them trying to continue the tradition on to the next generation. Like I'm Harry and he's Harry but I'm not his Harry..." She trailed off as the twins started to understand the humour. "Exactly. So he convinces Dumbledore of this. We have two Harry's. Harry Black goes to Hogwarts and Harry Potter..."

"Vanishes." Fred breathed in amazement. "That is truly brilliant. Have you got some parchment on you, Hermione?"

"Why?"

"We need to write to Sirius Black. I want to find out if we're correct."

"We could just ask Harry, you know."

"But where's the fun in that?" George grinned and Hermione knew she had lost the battle. Eventually, they had the letter written and although it was nearly two pages long, they felt they were happy with it. Fred folded it neatly and they headed for the Owlery. Hermione had never been to this part of the castle before, as she had no one to send letters to. Under the accusing glare of so many avians, Hermione felt as though she was being judged and coming out unworthy. They were about to beckon down a large eagle owl when Hermione jumped.

"Wait!"

"What?" The twins were surprised, to say the least.

"We are sending pretty sensitive information. What if the owl were to be intercepted? We need to protect it somehow."

Fred and George nodded and gestured for her to continue. "I have an idea. You'll need to do the spell work as I'm not that advanced yet. Here's what I want you to do."

Eventually, the regal eagle owl soared off into the night and Hermione frowned.

"Er...What time is it?"

The Twins eye widened "The feast!" In all the excitement of the genius of Sirius Black, they had completely forgotten about the floating pumpkins which had sparked the evening's expedition.

"Harry will kill us if we're late," Fred muttered as they faced down the Owlery stairs and headed off through the corridor.

"Forget Harry," Hermione replied. "What about McGonagall?"

She was right. Their year head was naturally suspicious of the twins, with good reason. Although attending the feast wasn't mandatory if they didn't show up and something went wrong in the school, it would be them that surely got the blame. They paused on the second floor to catch their breath.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked a nearby portrait.

"7:05 precisely." An elderly witch informed them primly.

"Right." She turned back to the twins with a grin. "We're only 35 minutes late. We'll be fine."

Sometimes fate can be called a bitch. Sometimes she's a blessing. However, it can always be argued that she has impeccable timing. A loud roar punctuated the end of Hermione sentence and the three of them turned slightly to face the end of the corridor. The hulking mass of foul-smelling, mucus coloured flesh regarded them through two small black eyes. Its clothes were little more than rags and a large heavy wooden club swung from its left hand.

The troll charged.

The floor shook and Hermione, acting purely on instinct, reached up and grabbed the twins by the neck and dropped to the floor. The boys fell in heap beside her and the troll carried forward by its own momentum and sheer stupidity, ran straight over them and into the wall behind them.

"RUN!" Hermione shrieked. They each grabbed one of her hands and legged it, almost dragging Hermione behind them. The troll had rebounded off the wall and shook its head blearily before turning back to where it could smell its prey.

Trolls don't have great eyes sight. In fact, it's truly terrible. They rely on their sense of smell to find their prey. Unfortunately for our trio, Hermione had yet to study magical creatures. So when they hid behind a statue of a large dragon, which had been tucked into an alcove, they were greatly surprised to find the troll make an unerring path towards them.

Hermione raised her wand and was vaguely conscious of the twins doing the same. This corridor was in the far corner of the castle, well away from the feast and the help of any Professor.

"Would the disarming charm work?" Fred muttered.

"Yes. It's for disarming. Not specifically wands." Hermione tightened her grip on her wand, feeling the wood slip slightly under her sweaty fingers. The troll was so close now that Hermione was almost gagging on its foul stench.

"On three?" George ordered.

"One" Fred whispered.

"Two"

"Three" yelled Hermione.

" _Expelliarmus!_ " They fired the charm in unison. The three identical beams of light merged and hit the troll full in the face. Its club went flying and the combined power of the spell sent it flying back into the wall, which it hit, head first, with a sickening thud.

Hermione swayed on her feet, truly exhausted for the first time in her life. Her wand fell out of her hand as she found she no longer had the energy to hold it and she collapsed. The last things she saw as she hit the ground was the collapsing bodies of the twins or either side of her.

* * *

_Perhaps it would be relevant if I told you what I remember from that night._

_Professor Quirrel had run into the Great Hall at 6:50._

_The school evacuated the students to their common room by 6:55._

_It took the collected staff of Hogwarts a further ten minutes to confirm that the troll wasn't in the expansive dungeons of the castle._

_It was then at 7:05 precisely that the loud roar of a mountain troll could be heard reverberating through the school._

_In all my years I have never seen Minerva and Pomona run so fast. By the time we caught up with them, they were approaching the second floor corridor. A loud crash sounded from up ahead. The scene that met our eyes when we arrived was like that of a fantasy story. The mountain troll, easily topping 9 feet was slouched in a heap at the foot of the wall. You could tell it had hit it at a remarkable speed. The back of its head was oozing thick sulphurous blood and there was a spiders web of cracks in the wall behind it, some easily an inch deep. We quickly bound it and ensured it would not awake for some time._

_Minerva relaxed slightly. While she may come across as stiff and strict, I have never met someone more suited to be a mother than she. Her love for children and her students is paramount to nothing. She slouched against a wall. "Thank Godric there weren't any students nearby."_

_Pomona Sprout was poking around the statue of a dragon, which I vaguely remembered had been a gift from the Bones family._

" _Minerva, I wouldn't be so sure about that."_

_We crowded the statue, Minerva, Pomona, Severus and I. Imagine our shock and surprise at what we found. In a crumpled heap, barely breathing, lay Fred and George Weasley and Hermione Granger._


	5. The Two Harry's

_Minerva and I escorted the unconscious Gryffindors to the Hospital Wing, whilst the other teachers dealt with the Troll. Poppy Pomfrey already had beds ready and diagnosed them with magical exhaustion. They would wake up, unharmed, in a day or two. Minerva left to confront Dumbledore. She was furious that such a creature had managed to get into the school, without the all-powerful warlock noticing. Her fury was not helped by the knowledge that three of her favourite lion cubs were now in the hospital wing as a direct result of the troll. Poppy transfigured their robes into pyjamas, a nifty charm which was used by healers worldwide and returned to her office. I was about to leave when something caught my eye. Young Miss Granger was tucked under the starched white sheets of the hospital bed, her hands resting gently upon it. And it was her hands that caught my attention. On each hand, a small tattoo wound around her middle finger. I clambered onto the chair by her bed and grabbed her hands, pulling up the sleeves of her pyjamas as I did so._

_I remember the one thought that went through my head as I saw the swirling pattern continue up from both fingers, the back of her hands and up her arms. Oh, Dear Sweet Merlin._

_Thankfully Poppy had placed them in beds next to each other and I didn't have to run about like a headless Hippogriff. I reached across and nabbed the red-headed twin's arm, yanking up his sleeve. Same pattern. I checked with the other twin. Same tattoo, different arm. I had the strong suspicion the patterns matched. Bonding tattoos. I moved as fast as my small stature would allow to the foot of the three beds and raised my wand hoping Poppy didn't come back and question my actions._

" _Reconditus" I murmured. The charm was semi-permanent, only removable by me and undetectable to others. I checked the charm had taken and the tattoos were hidden and left the hospital wing as fast as I could._

* * *

_Why did I hide the marks? Surely such a momentous occasion as soul-bonding should be shouted from the rooftops and pledged in sonnets. Well, dear readers, the answer is quite simple. Albus Dumbledore. I had watched him scheme and plan and play with the lives of Lily and James Potter. I had seen his fury when Sirius Black freed his godson from the muggles and vanished. Unlike Dumbledore, I knew exactly who Harry Black was. I knew how powerful this trio would be. I knew Dumbledore was looking for his chosen one. I wasn't about to hand him three._

* * *

Sirius Black sipped his coffee. It was quiet without his godson pottering around the place, causing havoc. Sirius grinned. Pottering. He was hilarious. A loud crack caused him to slop the hot liquid and he turned to glare accusingly at the eagle owl outside the window. It glared right back. Sirius gave in. There was no winning with owls. He set down his mug and crossed to the window, opening it in one smooth movement, shaking his head. The owl stuck out its leg and he untied the message, barely clearing his hands before it flew off. Sirius sat back down at the table. It looked like two pieces of paper folded. He slipped his fingers under the flap but, much to his amazement it wouldn't come undone. He flipped it over and read the words scrawled on the back in ornate handwriting.

_If I were the Map, what would you do?_

Riddles weren't his strong point. He was a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake, not a Ravenclaw. Sirius threw his head back and yelled. "MOONY!"

The wizard stuck his head in the door. "I'm sorry Sirius did you call for me? I couldn't quite hear you from the room _next door_."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "C'mere. I want you to have a look at something." He handed him the parchment and Remus sat down, frowning slightly. "What does that mean?"

"It means you're an idiot." Remus chuckled and pulled out his wand. "This is a sticking charm which has been worded to a specific phase. That is your clue." He waited patiently for Sirius to connect the dots.

"AH! The Marauders Map." Remus rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Didn't Harry write to us and say some friends of his had found it?"

"Just tap the letter, Sirius." Sirius pulled out his wand and muttered. " _I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._ "

The words vanished and the parchment unfolded, revealing the letter within. Remus tugged his chair closer and they began to read.

_Dear Sirius Black,_

_We are, as you have probably deduced, friends of Harry. We went to visit the Headmaster today, for various reasons and we were made aware of the greatest trick ever played on Albus Dumbledore._

_We have dubbed it "The Two Harrys". You can blame Gred and Forge for that._

_We came up with a theory as to how you achieved this and were wondering if we were correct._

_Firstly you hid Harry Potter away from the magical community for several years after adopting him in law._

_You write to Dumbledore telling him of the existence of your own son. Dumbledore won't question the existence of such a child, especially if you tell him you hid your son away to protect him from Lord Voldemort. You explain to him that you and James believed it would be hilarious to name both your sons Harry, as you were very close to each other. It'd be like have two sons (insert excuse used here). He could be easily convinced that this was the Marauders last prank._

_You later inform him that you are worried by the amount of fame and danger Harry Potter would grow up within Britain. You have made the choice of sending Harry Potter to Beauxbatons Academy and will be keeping him hidden and safe. At this point, there are two Harrys. Harry undergoes a magical adoption, via an archaic potion and becomes for all intents and purposes Harry Black, your son. Harry Potter is sent to France and never heard of again. Harry Potter vanishes and Harry Black is an unimportant pureblood out of the reach of Albus Dumbledore._

_If we are wrong then you may keep your method to yourself but please do write back. I have been assured that if we were correct you will confirm it. Apparently denying a prank when you've been caught red-handed is not how a good prankster conducts himself. Forge and Gred were simply overjoyed at the chance to contact you, their hero._

_Please don't mention this to Harry. We weren't sure if he knew the details of this or not and don't particularly wish to be on the wrong end of temper. Again._

_Yours,_

_Gred, Twist and Forge_

_(Second generation pranksters)_

_P.S Gred and Forge believe I should mention that without my genius they wouldn't have worked it out at all. I wish to mention that Gred and Forge really need to get better nicknames and if you have any suggestions I will gratefully inscribe them upon their foreheads in luminous ink._

_P.P.S Twist wishes to assure Gred and Forge that she is NOT joking._

Sirius sat back and laughed. Remus joined him as he read the postscripts back to himself.

"Luminous ink." He chuckled. "Well, Padfoot I do believe you have a Fanclub. Whoever Twist is, she's a genius. She managed to figure it out what Dumbledore himself failed to notice."

Sirius nodded grinning widely. "I don't actually know her name. Harry just refers to her as Twist in his letters. The twins are Fred and George Weasley."

"Are you going to reply?"

Sirius gaped at him. "Of course I am. My honour as a Marauder is on the line here. How could I possibly deny this?"

Remus shook his head and helped himself to the box of chocolates Sirius had bought for Amelia.

* * *

_Filius' note: We've decided it is necessary to invite others to give their accounts of events, such as Sirius and Remus. I have been informed that it makes for a more involved story._

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was not stupid. She wandered along the Transfiguration corridor to her office, wondering which of the staff members had let the troll into the school. It wasn't simply a matter of the troll wandering in from the forest. There were no trolls in the Forbidden Forest. There weren't any in almost a hundred miles. As well as that the school was warded against such creatures. Only a teacher would be able to lift the wards to let it through.

"Minerva?" She spun around and frowned at the empty corridor.

"Down here, Minerva." She glanced down and spotted Filius. She immediately blushed. It wasn't a reflection on his height. It was just Minerva walked with her head held high and very rarely looked at the ground. She walked into a lot of first years because of it.

Filius rolled his eyes. "I need to talk to you. Can we go to your office?"

She nodded and led the way through her office door. Filius leapt from the footrest into a chair in one easy movement. He wasn't a duelling master for nothing. She sat in her desk chair and rubbed her temples, trying to ward off the oncoming headache.

"We need to talk about your Gryffindors."

"Which ones?"

"Fred and George Weasley and Hermione Granger."

She blinked at him and sighed. "This won't be good, will it?"

"No." Filius sighed "I know why they fainted. The troll didn't hurt them and no normal spell would have caused them to faint. My best guess is that they cast simultaneously and their soul bond formed."

Minerva just stared at him. She reached out blindly and opened a drawer pulling out a bottle of Firewiskey she'd confiscated from some seventh years. A burst of wandless magic later and she raised the uncorked bottle to her lips. Headache be damned. She needed this. It took three mouthfuls before her courage was bolstered enough to speak.

"You're sure?" The whiskey had made her voice cracked and rough.

Filius nodded and held his hand out for the bottle.

"I spotted the marks in the hospital wing. All three of them." He took a swig. "I've hidden them from view. Poppy would only tell Albus."

Minerva sighed, "Can you imagine what he'd do with that kind of power?"

"Albus is a good man," Filius argued. "He truly is. But he puts the battle before all else. He believes You-Know-Who will rise again. Without Harry Potter, this would be his next best weapon."

Minerva nodded and flexed her fingers slightly. "So we keep them hidden and safe. Should we tell their parents?"

"I wouldn't tell Mrs Weasley. Her family are tied to follow Dumbledore. She'd go to him without a second thought. I'm sure the twins will be able to keep this from her. Pair of natural liars they are." He chuckled slightly.

"And Miss Granger?"

Filius shrugged. "Don't you know about her family?"

Minerva snapped her fingers and the Hogwarts Attendance book landed with a thump on her desk. It was leather-bound and thick, as each child had their own page with their contact details, school records and current academic status. Minerva flicked through it until she came to Granger, Hermione.

_Granger, Hermione_

_Muggleborn_

_DOB: 19th of September 1980_

_Place of Residence: Lambeth Orphanage_

_Current Status: Hospitalised_

She sighed. "Orphan. I don't visit orphans, Albus does. He says he always wants to make sure. I deal with muggleborns. This does make things easier on her front. No parents to ask questions. When shall we tell them?"

"Not immediately. The charm will hold for another four days before their magic begins to corrode it. They'll know something is different when they wake up." Filius jumped off the chair and made for the door. "I need to read up on this. It's not exactly a common piece of magic."

Minerva nodded and banished the attendance book with another snap of her fingers.

"It's a pity the twins aren't chasers. Gryffindor would be unstoppable."

"Is that all you think about Minerva?" Filius scolded.

"You try losing to Severus. It'd make you dedicated to anything."

"By the way where did that Firewhiskey come from?"

She grinned. "Nymphadora Tonks."

Flitwick rolled his eyes again. "Pomona was right. She really does lack the ability to behave."

* * *

Fred groaned and punched his pillow in an attempt to make it less like a stone. He thought the pillows in the dormitories were much more comfortable than this. Dorm was usually warmer too.

If it smells like the Hospital Wing and it feels like the Hospital Wing then it's probably... he opened his eyes and groaned. Yep, the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey heard him and bustled over.

"Ah, Mr Weasley. How nice of you to wake up." She flicked her wand in an exaggeratedly fluid movement and smirked slightly. "Your magic is back to normal. Now would you mind telling me who you are?"

Fred stared at her in amazement. "You've known me since first year. Don't you remember me?"

She sighed. "I know you're a Weasley twin. I just don't know which one. Even I can't tell you apart."

"Oh. Hermione can. I'm Fred." She nodded and tapped his forehead with her wand.

"Jolly good. Any dizziness? Nausea?" He shook his head and she sighed "Very well. You can get up if you feel like it. Your clothes are in that cabinet." She strode off and closed the privacy screens behind her. Fred stood and stretched before getting changed. The last thing he remembered was disarming the troll, with George and Hermione. He shook his head and sighed. Someone would explain later. He left and looked down along the ward. All the other beds were empty, except two, which were closed off with more screens. George and Hermione.

He checked to see where Madam Pomfrey was before he crept through the nearest set of screens, scratching his arm as he did so. For some reason it itched incessantly. In the first bed he found Hermione, sleeping peacefully and looking almost angelic whilst doing so. It reminded Fred of something his mother used to say when he was little. _"The little devils look like angels when their asleep. Wake them up and the disguise is ruined."_ Given that his mother reserved this saying for him and George it wasn't surprising that he heard it a lot. Speaking of George... Fred pushed his way through the curtains until he reached his brothers bed.

"George?"

"Fred."

"George?"

"Fred."

"GEORGE!"

George's eyes snapped open and he jumped, seeing Fred's face bare inches from his own.

"AHH..." Fred slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up. We're in the Hospital Wing. Are you okay?"

George nodded and Fred removed his hand.

"Don't wake me up like that. Why are we here? Is Hermione okay?"

Fred nodded once and his brother relaxed.

"She's next door sleeping. Get dressed." Fred made to leave.  
"Gred?"

"Yes Forge?"

"Why is their an F on your forehead?"

Fred sighed. "Damn you Poppy Pomfrey!"

* * *

Hermione woke to see twin expressions of concern before she was crushed by a set of thirteen year olds with deep blue eyes. She coughed slightly and they sat back, fluffing her pillows so she could sit up. Hermione smiled. It was almost comical seeing the expressions of concern and worry on such normally buoyant faces.

"What's wrong? You're not usually this worried." Her voice was cracked from misuse and George handed her his glass of water. She didn't care that he'd already drunk from it. They'd been sharing food for ages, because the twins worried she didn't eat enough.

"We don't know. We only just woke up. The last thing we remember is fighting the troll and now..." George gestured around him. Their robes had been cleaned and pressed but neither twin had their tie done up properly. Her hands itched to straighten them. She clenched the duvet instead. Actually her whole arm itched, right up to her

"Where's Pomfrey?"

"Right here."

The twins flinched and turned slowly to face the middle-aged matron. She was standing at the foot of Hermione's bed, hands on her hips in a position that reminded both twins strongly of their mother.

"Why didn't either of you decide to fetch me when Miss Granger woke up? She was twice as drained as the pair of you. It's a miracle she's even awake."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, her warm brown eyes managing to look flinty and cold standing out in sharp relief against her unnaturally pale skin, as she fixed Pomfrey with a questioning glare.

"Drained?"

Pomfrey nodded, flicking her wand over Hermione.

"Magically drained. Something that happens rarely to wizards who overexert themselves. We found you unconscious behind a statue. The only other thing in that corridor was an unconscious troll. Priori Incantatem showed that the last magic you did with your wands was a disarming charm. It is my assumption..." and she glared at them collectively. "That you put so much force and desperation behind that charm that you managed to defeat a troll and drain yourselves at the same time."

Although they were innocent for some reason it seemed to be impossible for Fred to keep his face straight. His twin seemed to be having similar troubles, as he pursed his lips. Hermione had simply settled for glaring at the healer, one eyebrow raised in defiance. Typical.

"Did you tell our Mum?"

The healer sighed and shook her head.

"I remember the last time the pair of you were in here. Quidditch injuries, wasn't it?" They nodded and she scowled. "Moronic game if you ask me." She turned to Hermione "Their mother came all the way to school and had the audacity to question my treatment. Honestly." Hermione's scowl softened slightly and Madam Pomfrey nodded as if satisfied. "Well, you're all well enough to go, although I'll give you a pass from classes today. Professor Flitwick asked me to pass on a message that he'd like to see you. Regarding your charms grades apparently." She shooed the boys out of their so Hermione could dress and they stood just outside the curtain.

"So are you sure you're ok, Twist?"

Fred and George grinned at each other as Hermione growled at them.

"Er...Never mind."

Hermione sighed and pushed her way out from behind the curtain, pulling her jumper over her head. Her frown vanished as she spotted the genuine concern on their faces. She linked arms with them and they walked slowly out of the Hospital Wing, relaxing slightly at the contact. Fred smiled slightly.

"We're sorry. It's just...you heard Pomfrey, you had it worse than us. You could've died or something."

"You're our best friend. We're allowed to worry about you."  
"Well don't. If there's one thing I am, it's bloody hard to kill." They frowned at her bitter tone. The swearing they were used to. Hermione swore like a banshee. "I thought Lee was your best friend."

"Nah. He was but no one knows us like you do. Besides some of your prank ideas are simply..."

"Evil?" Hermione suggested.

"Ingenius." Fred corrected.

"Hilarious."

"Brilliant."

"Oh stop it. I think I might faint from the praise." They grinned at her sarcasm. "As for the draining thing...It's probably because of your twin bond."

"Twin bond?" They stopped and stared at her, arms still linked.

"Well yes. Didn't you know?" They shook their heads and Hermione rolled her brown eyes. "A twin bond forms between a pair of magical twins. You two ill always support each other and love each other unconditionally. You're..."She cast around for the right words. "Soul mates. I mean that in a platonic sense, so stop looking sick. Soul mates can be best friends, siblings or lovers or anything really. Soul mate means someone who fits you perfectly. They have an incredibly close relationship and are like best friends. It's not instant. It's something you have to work at in most cases. It's why you have two have brother wands." Hermione paused and frowned, remembering the words of Ollivander.

Fred stared at his brother in amazement and the silence grew uncomfortable. Hermione sighed.

"So kitchens?"

"Hell yes."

* * *

"Thank you Jemmie." Hermione politely took the dish from the elf and set it on the table. Fred snickered. "What?"

"Around everyone else, you're grumpy little Hermione, but with the house elves your..." he looked at his brother for help but George waved him off.

"Oh no dear brother. Your digging this hole by yourself."

"Ah." Fred busied himself with his food.

Hermione rolled her eyes and threw a glob of mashed potato at him. They ate in silence for a while until an owl was escorted over by another house elf.

"Mistress Hermione? This owl arrived for you."

Hermione untied the letter and passed the owl some of her steak, which is accepted happily.

"Thanks."

She scanned the writing on the top of the envelope and chuckled. "I have a riddle for you. What's noble, ancient and serious all at the same time?"

"Cactus."

"Broomstick."

"Goldfish."

"Goldfish?" Fred scowled at his brother. "Now you're just being silly."

"How you two manage to pass the end of year exams is a mystery to me." They gave her twin angelic grins and she rolled her eyes again. Reaching into her pocket Hermione withdrew her wand and tapped the envelope with it. "Sirius Black." The envelope unfolded so it was flat revealing the letter written on the same parchment. The twins whistled in amazement. "What? The House of Black is Noble and Ancient. Serious...Sirius. It was bloody obvious." She sighed in irritation and read the letter aloud.

_Dear Twist,_

_Firstly I, Sirius Black, founding Marauder, would like to applaud your deductive abilities and confirm that you were indeed, correct. The two Harrys is, to this day the most successful prank I have ever pulled. I wake up laughing in the night sometimes. I'm amazed at my own brilliance. I'd know. Trust me, I'm Sirius._

_Secondly, Fred and George, you seriously need new nicknames. Even I know who you are. This letter is addressed to Twist as I have no idea who she actually is. I can't even guess what Twist could mean. I asked Moony and he was stumped. Which is, by the way unusual._

_I would automatically rule out anything which marks you out as twins though. You'd be too easy to guess._

_Have you played any pranks recently?_

_Were they good?_

_Moony says I'm being ridiculous but it's nice to hear Harry has friends. Being raised by a Marauder probably hasn't done him any good on the social front._

_Does Harry pull pranks?_

_I would like to extend a formal invitation to the three of you to visit with Harry for Christmas. I have already asked Harry and Mrs Weasley. As she was planning to visit Romania this Christmas with her husband, she didn't have any objections. Twist, I have no idea who you are. So I can't enquire on your behalf._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Lord Sirius Black,_

_of the Noble and Ancient House of Black,_

_Marauder_

"We get.."

"to meet..

"SIRIUS BLACK!"

Hermione grinned, folding the letter and tucking it inside her robes before returning to her food.

"Oh really? Wow. Aren't you two lucky?"

"Sarcasm doesn't work when you're grinning."

"Does too. It's called friendly sarcasm." Hermione widened her eyes and grinned "It's the best kind." she added dreamily, staring off into the distance. Fred scowled.

"Very funny Twist."

"I can't see how you're excited by a man who made the same dreadful pun twice in one letter."

She chuckled deeply and nibbled on her steak, her eyes never really focusing on them again.

"Shall we visit Flitwick?" Hermione glanced up at them and blinked.

"What?"

George smirked at tugged on her plait. "Pay attention Twist. Madam Pomfrey said he was looking for us. He won't be teaching now. It's break. So shall we?"

"Oh alright." They set off from the kitchens, Hermione following the twins quietly.

"What's wrong Hermione?" Fred caught her hand and dragged her to a stop in front of them. "You're not yourself."

"Fred, I'm fine. George, stop hovering. I'm fine." Hermione scowled at them and they grinned.

"Much better." They grabbed an arm each and pointed onwards. "TO CHARMS!" ****


	6. A Way Out

Flitwick was busy levitating a stack of books when they arrived and didn't look round when the classroom door shut with a click. Fred cleared his throat and the tiny professor jumped, losing his concentration and dropping the books. He spun around and rested a hand on his chest, sucking in a huge breath.

"Fright of my life you lot gave me." He breathed out deeply and stacked the books with a flick of his wand. "I take it Madam Pomfrey passed on my message?"

Hermione nodded quietly. She respected the charms professor, with his squeaky voice and elegant wand movements. When he noticed how she disliked being the centre of attention whenever she got a spell right first time he simply nodded quietly in her direction awarded the points under his breath. Hermione was allowed to read quietly at the back of the classroom and she was grateful for the attention he helped her avoid.

"Well, sit down then." Fred and George sat on either side of Hermione, both scratching their arms. Hermione had more restraint and simply balled her hands into fists, resisting the urge to claw her skin off. Flitwick winced slightly.

"I'm sorry about that. The spell is corrupting as your magic works against it. I'll remove it in a moment."

"Remove what, Sir?"

Flitwick sighed and leaned against his lectern. It seemed unusual for the professor to assume such a casual pose. They were more used to seeing his head peeking over the top of a tall stack of books.

"The glamour charm I placed on you. Normally it wouldn't be noticeable to you but this is a...different situation." Fred and George frowned. They hadn't heard an adult use this tone of voice since their beloved Uncle Billius had died. "Professor McGonagall has been informed of your situation and she has given me her full support. However, I must ask you not to impart any of this information lightly." He stared at the twins as he said this. "Obviously this is your choice. I am simply informing you of what I think is best."

Hermione snapped, hating the suspense. "What is it?" She blushed slightly and switched her gaze to her hands. "Sir."

Flitwick smiled slightly and pulled at his tufty white hair. "I put the glamour charm on you to prevent Professor Dumbledore from seeing the tattoos. The tattoos are the manifestation of your soul bond."

Aside from the slight widening of Hermione's eyes, the trio gave no reaction to the news. They simply sat frozen behind the desks, clutching at the hands of each other. Flitwick sighed and raised his wand. A simple flick later and the glamour charm faded and their tattoos fell into sharp relief against their pale skin.

Hermione stared down at her hands. The swirling pattern appeared from under Fred's sleeve, down to his middle finger, where it joined to Hermione's middle finger and continued. It ran continuously from Fred's hand, through Hermione and on to George.

"How?" Hermione shrank back. She'd never heard George sound so angry. On her left, Fred's expression was similarly thunderous. She flinched slightly and they pulled their hands from hers.

"When you fought that troll you went through an experience so significant together, that it bonded you together. The potential for the bond was always there but something sparked it two days ago."

"We cast together." Hermione's voice was quiet and empty. "The spells merged together."

Flitwick frowned. "That would probably do it. Although..."

"We have brother wands." The twins snapped their heads around to glare at Hermione and she shrunk back slightly. "Ollivander told me." She whispered. Angry adults, even bullies she could handle. But not the Twins.

"All three of you..." She nodded silently, willing back the tears. "Well, that explains it. Twins, identical twins at least, are one half of a soul. Which is why the twin bond forms. However, they are still not whole and usually go on to form soul bonds with their spouses. However, in this case, Hermione is the other half of both your souls. She's bonded to both of you."

"But we didn't want to be bonded to her." Fred scowled and advanced on Flitwick, aware of his brother on his right.

"We didn't want to be bonded to anyone."

"We were happy the way we were."

The tiny professor pulled his self up to his full height. "Well, I'd say that you're being bloody selfish. You've been given something so wonderful, many would kill for it." He glared at them in turn. "You two were always going to be bonded together. Would you rather live half-empty lives and confine her to an empty life as well? It's all right for you two purebloods. You grew up with the knowledge of bonding and souls. Miss Granger is a muggleborn. She's been forced into this world, with no choice or consent and has no understanding of what has occurred between you three."

"Well, it's not our ruddy fault she's ignorant."

"If I were you Mr Weasley, I'd watch your tone." Flitwick levelled his wand at the twins, his voice dangerously calm. "Miss Granger is the brightest witch to walk through these halls since Rowena herself. Believe me, I would know. The staff are extremely fond of her and you've just sent her off in tears because you made her feel belittled and stupid. I hope the pair of you are happy." The Twins whirled, anger forgotten. The desk where Hermione had been sitting was empty and she had vanished.

* * *

Harry was sitting outside the first year's dorms on the staircase at lunchtime, waiting for the twins. They barrelled into him, almost knocking him over. Only Harry's seeker training stopped him from being sent flying.

"Have you seen Hermione?"

Harry didn't know which twin had asked and frankly, he didn't care.

"Yes, I do. She's in my bed crying her eyes out because of you two. She won't tell me what's wrong and you had better have had a good reason for whatever it was you did because our Hermione. Doesn't. Cry!" Harry growled at them, raising his wand. "Don't tempt me to use to the spells my Aunt Amelia taught me for disarming pushy wizards." He lowered his wands to the first twin's crotch and was gratified to hear them gulp.

"Look. We're really sorry. We just had a bit of a shock and we need to talk to her. We said some really stupid things which we didn't mean." They tried to push past him but Harry refused to move.

"Do you honestly think I'm letting you in there? You're obviously dumber than I thought. You can see Hermione when she wants to see you. Now piss off."

Harry turned and walked into the room, slamming the door behind him. Hermione glanced up at him from the bed and smiled weakly.

"Thanks for that."

He shrugged and sat next to her.

"It's nothing really. I meant it though. You're like a sister to me. I won't let them hurt you. Now, will you tell me what happened? I haven't seen you for days."

Hermione sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"We were in the Hospital Wing. We got cornered by the troll on Halloween, which we managed to survive unscathed. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it. Apparently we drained our magic. We woke up this morning in the Hospital Wing, none the wiser. Pomfrey let us go and we went to visit Flitwick. We got a letter from Sirius by the way. He invited us for Christmas."

Harry grunted. "Yeah, I know. He asked me if I'd like to have you round. Although I'm seriously considering uninviting the Twins."  
"Don't do that." She murmured softly. "They're your friends."

"Yeah, and so are you. Tell me what happened with Flitwick."

Hermione sighed and held out her hands. Harry swore.

"Oh, bloody hell. That's a soul bond isn't it?" She nodded and Harry raked a hand through his hair. Then he flicked his head to the side and it lay flat again. Hermione tugged on her braid, self consciously "What did the Twins say?"

"They were furious. I've never seen them so angry. They were angry at me because I didn't tell them we had brother wands. I just forgot. Harry, they said they didn't want me. Why does nobody want me?" Harry felt his heart twist as she looked at him with those deep brown eyes which were filled with sadness and tears. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned on him for support. Hermione never gave hugs unless you were the Twins. It gave Harry a pretty good clue of how distraught she was that she let him hold her.

"Hermione." He asked carefully. "What happened to your parents?"

The answer made his heartache.

"Dead. Grandma disowned me. No other family. Too weird to be adopted, too weird to even share a room with someone that's normal. Fred and George were the first people who actually spoke to me in almost four years. Not even they want me." Her voice broke from the flat monotone and she started to cry again. "What's wrong with me?"

Harry sighed as he watched the witch break down in front of him. He held her close, trying to give as much comfort as it's possible for an eleven-year-old boy to give. But really he knew there was nothing he could do to help. While he and Hermione were close, she'd never let him in as close as she had the Twins. They were who she needed. He unlocked the door with his wand and opened it. They were slumped outside in a heap, tears tracks on their cheeks, wallowing in an air of regret and desperation. The hopeful glances they shot at him convinced him they were the only ones who could help. He stood aside.

"She needs you."

They barrelled past him into the dorm. Harry stood in the doorway watching as they broke down at the sight of their best friend in tears. One twin on either side of her they cuddled the broken witch close and sobbed. He sighed and closed the door.

* * *

It took twenty minutes of quiet crying before any of them were ready to speak. Fred sighed slightly.

"We're so sorry."

"We didn't mean it."

"We just got a shock and we're so amazingly sorry. Just please forgive us."

"We never thought anything this..."

"Chaotic would happen to us. It's so unusual."

She hiccuped slightly.

"Chaotic? You two are the princes of chaos."

"Yeah but that we control. We know how everything fits together and how each variable works out. It's controlled."

"We never want to hurt you like that again. We didn't mean it."

"We weren't angry at you."  
Hermione stared at the red-eyed boys and tried to believe what they said was true.

"If you didn't mean it then why did you say it?"

Fred looked at George and George looked at Fred.

"We have no idea."

"Our Mum is going to kill us."

She sighed again and smiled slightly.

"You two are idiots."

* * *

It took another week before things were close to normal between the twins and Hermione. They all wore long sleeves and had taken to wearing their Quidditch gloves to classes. Only Harry had seen the bond marks and that was how they intended to keep it. Yet some differences were harder to hide.

"How did you bloody know?" Oliver Wood bellowed at Fred. "That bludger was behind you, there was no way you could've seen it heading for Hermione. So how did you know to stick your bat out and stop it?" The rest of the team had gathered around. Oliver wasn't annoyed. In fact, he was ecstatic that one of his beaters had become seemingly telepathic.

Fred and George had sighed and ignored Wood as he threatened to make them practise with invisible bludgers. They were only slightly sure he was joking.

It was mid-way through November before they worked up the courage to visit Professor Flitwick again.

"What can you tell us about...this?" Fred made expansive sweeping gestures with his hands and Hermione smiled slightly. Only Fred could take a life-changing event and sum it up in one gesture.

"A fair bit, I suppose. The bond is permanent but it must be cared for. You can't allow it to wither and die, for to do so would allow a piece of yourself to die." The Twins flinched and looked guiltily at Hermione. "The bond doesn't make you do anything. You were already incredibly powerful wizards, however, when you work together the power will be legendary. Unstoppable. This castle came into being because of a soul bond. The four founders were bonded together and with their magic raised this castle from the dust. The whole building was constructed from magic. Merlin was believed to have a similar one although this was never confirmed." They nodded slightly and he continued. "Your bond will ensure that you'll be friends and extremely close for the rest of your natural lives. Were you to become Aurors you would probably be the most powerful ever seen."

"Hang on. I thought we were all linked." George frowned in confusion and Flitwick laughed.

"Oh no. Of course not, that would be quite unorthodox. For two brothers to be bonded...is wrong. Fred is Bonded to Hermione and George is Bonded to Hermione. She is bonded to both of you."

Fred snickered slightly.

"That's okay. We're used to sharing."

Hermione punched his arm.

"Ow."

"This bond is platonic and shouldn't affect your everyday lives. Unless you have a habit of getting into dangerous situations. Why are you wearing gloves inside?"

As one they peeled off a fingerless leather glove and showed him the bond.

"I could glamour it for you again."

They shuddered.

"Thank you for the offer Sir but the itching was terrible. We'll just keep our gloves on. It's winter so no one really minds. Although the Twins are struggling with having to get changed for Quidditch matches. These tattoos go all the way up to our shoulders." Hermione's voice wasn't petulant, just calm and serene as she stated pure fact.

Flitwick nodded. "I may be able to do something about that but it will take me some time." The trio nodded and left, pulling on their gloves.

* * *

_I did something that day that I'm not very proud of. Just like Albus Dumbledore, I lied to them for what I believed was their own good. Telling a twelve year old girl that she has a romantic bond with two teenage boys could not be good for her. The amount of pressure she would have been under...no I stand by my decision. She didn't need to know then. They never would have turned out right otherwise. Bonds aren't instantaneous. They needed to arrive at the same place together._

* * *

"Oliver is starting to get suspicious that me an' Fred change in the toilets now."

Hermione smiled slightly.

"Tell him you've been kissing girls and you don't want anyone to see the marks. Should get him off your backs, although you might get a lecture about Quidditch coming before dating."

They frowned. "Why would they mark us?"

Her eyes widened and Hermione stared at them in amazement. "You're serious aren't you? Oh dear...HARRY HELP!"

* * *

Hermione eventually tracked Harry down in the common room, dragging the confused Twins behind her.

"There, you can ask Harry."

"Ask me what?" Harry scribbled onto the parchment and didn't look up.

Hermione smirked slightly. "I believe I have just introduced these two to the possibilities of girls and I think they need the Talk."

Harry went pale and knocked ink over his essay.

"Oh, Merlin. Hermione do I have to do this?"

Fred scowled. "Talk? What talk?"

"Yes, Harry you do. Because there is no way I'm touching this conversation with a barge pole." She retreated into a corner with her book, after syphoning the ink of his essay, occasionally catching phrases from the three boys.

She smiled slightly. Hermione had figured out the facts of life a long time ago. But that was mostly because of television, which wasn't carefully monitored at Lambeth. The Twins vanished up to their rooms looking equally confused and intrigued and Harry made his way over to Hermione. He sank onto the bench next to her and rested his head against the wall, screwing his eyes shut.

"I may never forgive you for making me do that."

Hermione chuckled.

"It had to be done. They were clueless the poor dears."

"Yeah, but did it have to be me? They really had no idea. They've always been so focused on pranks that no one thought to explain it to them. They flirt all the time and I guessed people just assumed they knew. I told them to go look up some books in the library and ask their brothers."

She smiled at him.

"So how do you know that stuff?"

"Sirius. He sat me down aged eight and explained the quills and the inkwells to me. A lot of his behaviour began to make sense after that." He glared at her. "But really Hermione. Did it have to be me?"

"Well, who else do you suggest did it? I'm a twelve year old girl. I'm innocent."

"Innocent my left...What?"

Hermione looked confused.

"What, What?"

"You're twelve."

She nodded slowly, eyes wide.

"And..."

"When did you turn twelve?"

Emerald eyes stared into hers as though suspecting she'd written the answer across the back of her eyeballs.

"In September. Same as every year. Why?"

Harry leapt up from the sofa and grabbed her shoulders, grinning from ear to ear.

"Why didn't you tell us? We have to have a party and presents and EVERYTHING!"

"Harry."

"We can ask the house-elves for cake and the Twins can do a run to..."

"Harry!"

"Honeydukes and we can invite the team and..."

"HARRY!"

He glanced up. "What?"

She grimaced at him. 

"Thanks awfully but no party."

Harry seemed to deflate in front of her.

"But we missed your birthday...the Twins will definitely want to throw a party and get you presents."

Hermione stood toe to toe with him and scowled.

"You will not tell the Twins."

Harry grinned cockily.

"You can't stop me."

Quick as a snake she grabbed his ear between her fingernails and pulled.

"ARGH!" Harry flailed at her, trying to work out how to get her to let go. 

"Swear you won't tell them." She insisted, staring him down.

Harry scowled and panted as he crouched to try and alleviate her pull on his ear.

"I won't. I won't. Dear Merlin just let go!"

Hermione let go and tugged on her school skirt to straighten it, smirking slightly.

"Thank you. I don't want the fuss because there is no reason to celebrate it. Just means it's another year since...Anyway. I want to see how many years it takes for the Twins to notice."

Harry sighed and rubbed his reddening ear.

"If you insist. I'm sure they'll notice eventually."

She laughed and picked up her book, a sure sign that the conversation was over.  
"I seriously doubt it."

* * *

November pulled to a close and December drew in. It was the week before school broke for Christmas and they were gathered in the Great Hall, enjoying hot breakfasts before they had to brave the freezing corridors again. 

"Will you meet us in the common room tonight?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at George. "At about three?"

"Technically," She complained. "That is the morning. I will have to check my reading schedule. But I should be able to fit you in."

George frowned. "Haven't you been sleeping again?"

Hermione looked him straight in the eye.

"I have slept recently."

Fred scowled and joined in.

"Twist, how much sleep do you get a night?"

"Three maybe two hours. I don't need much more." Hermione crunched her way through a slice of toast as the twins pursed their lips and frowned at each other. Fred leapt up and wandered down to whisper in Lee Jordan's ear. Both turned to look at her and she raised an eyebrow in question. Lee nodded and Fred clapped his shoulder, returning to his seat.

"Lee says it's fine," he muttered to George who turned to Hermione.

"Okay. For the rest of the term, you can bunk in our room."

"No." She snapped. 

"Yes." George looked mulish and she was reminded how impossible to negotiate with he was once he decided something. "We want you to sleep and you only seem to do it when we're around. Must be something to do with the..." He flicked a gloved hand. "Thing. We haven't seen you at meals recently either."

Hermione froze.  
"Err, I forgot?"

Fred's voice could have matched McGonagall's for sheer disapproval.

"I see. How have you managed to hide this from us? We usually know."

Hermione bushed slightly.

"What did you do Amazon?"

She muttered something under her breath.

"Didn't quite catch that." Fred glared at her. "Tell us."

"Spell. Makes it look as though I've had a good nights sleep."

"So this isn't what you actually look like?"

Hermione sighed and glanced down at her breakfast.

"Undo it." George's voice was hard and unyielding and she knew this was one of their battles she couldn't hope to win. She flicked her wand and muttered the counterspell. Judging by their sharp intakes of breath she looked pretty awful. Ever since November, she would have nightmares which would feature the Twins spitting insults at her. Hermione spent her nights reading books borrowed from the restricted section, trying to find a way out of her bond, until she fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. She knew the Twins didn't want this and if she could find a way to free them...

Hermione was dragged from her thoughts by a hand on each shoulder. Fred and George grabbed an arm each and frog marched her up to the Teacher's table, to stand in front of McGonagall.

"Let me go. I'm fine." Hermione snapped but was ignored by the Twins.

"Professor, we need a pass from our classes to look after Hermione."

"She's not well."

McGonagall took in the girl's sunken cheeks and the bruised look to her tired eyes. Her hair was limp and faded, braided in a long pleat down her back. She sucked in a breath and glanced at Filius who looked at the girl in shock. He nodded imperceptibly.

"Very well Messrs Weasley." McGonagall ignored the curious glance from Dumbledore and smiled at the trio. "I will notify the staff. I suggest that you take her to Madam Pomfrey for a Pepper-Up Potion. Then perhaps a relaxing day studying in the Library?"

The twins nodded solemnly and Minerva was surprised to see not a hint of levity in their eyes. They tucked the quietly protesting girl under their arms and left the hall.

"How odd," Dumbledore muttered. Nobody bothered to respond. 

* * *

The twins nearly force-fed her the potion, glaring non-stop at her as they did so. Hermione gagged slightly as Fred sat the now empty vial down on the coffee table in the Common Room.

"For the love of Merlin will you two STOP!" Hermione spluttered, as the bright red potion began to spread through her limbs. It felt strangely like being warmed from the inside out.

They raised an identical ginger eyebrow.

"No."

George was the more serious twin, but when Fred got angry...Hermione pushed back the nightmares of the them hurling insults at her as she fell off the Astronomy tower and straightened her spine.

"I am fine. There is nothing to worry about and you two are being ridiculous."

"Oh really?"

"We wouldn't let Ginny or even Ron get themselves into such a state."

"There is no way we are not taking care of you." They grabbed her school bag and dragged her up to their room. They sat in near silence, working through their homework. Hermione refused to even look at the twins. She knew they cared about her but this was something else. The bond was forcing them to do things they didn't mean to do. They had no choice.

Discretely Hermione rummaged in the bag by her feet for the book she'd borrowed yesterday but hadn't yet had a chance to read. George glanced over and spotted the dusty tome she held lovingly in her arms.

"What's that?"

"Care of freshwater plants by Pomona Sprout."

George scowled. He hated it when she lied to them. He hated that she found it so easy to do so, as though it was second nature to her.

"Oh really. Then why does the cover read Greater Magic's...?"

She pressed the cover of the book into her knees so the rest of the title wasn't visible and didn't look up.

"I have no idea, George."

He snatched the book out of her hands. She could see his lips mouth the title before he passed _Greater Magic's and Their Annulments_ to Fred. They looked up at her, eyes hiding an expression she couldn't quite figure out.

"Hermione. Are you trying to dissolve the bond?"


	7. Sleeping Beauty

"Yes." Hermione expected joy. She expected questions as to whether she'd found a way. She didn't expect the look of deep betrayal on their faces as they sank down on George's bed.

"Why?"

She hastened to explain. "This bond is messing with your minds. It's making you feel things that aren't there. You wouldn't be this over baring and protective as you are right now if it wasn't affecting you."

Fred flung the book into a corner so he wouldn't have to look at it and Hermione jumped.

"Is it so hard for you to believe that we just want to look after you?" George asked. He looked angry but she didn't understand why. 

"Yes." She told them honestly.

They seemed to deflate with that answer. Leaping forward they grabbed her and held her close between them. She frowned.

"See this is what I mean. It's the bond's doing." She was aware she probably sounded hysterical, but she was too far gone to care.

"We forget..."

"That you're muggleborn sometimes..."

"What with all the books you digest and the spells you know."

Fred reached out and smoothed her hair back from her face. "There is so much culture you learn growing up in a pureblood family that we take it for granted."

"Soul bonds are a gift. But they don't force you to feel things."

"If we want to look after you, then it's because we want to look after you. It has nothing to do with this." They tugged their gloves off and pulled Hermione's off as well. Linking their hands so the tattoos twisted together, they breathed out a sigh of relief. The barely noticeable tug which had been pulling at the three lessened.

"Little Amazon you won't be able to find a way to break this. It's a life thing."

"And we don't want you to."

She frowned again.

"You don't?"

"Of course not."

"Oh." Hermione's voice was very small and very quiet. George sighed and glanced at his brother over her head.

"Do you think the Library will have a copy of Grim's Fairy Tails?"

"Unlikely. I doubt Madam Pince would put much store by children's books."

"We could ask Mum for ours."

"She'd want to know why. And we can't tell her about the bond."

Hermione glanced up, knocking her head into Fred's chin.

"Ow. I thought you two would have told her."

Fred rubbed his chin with his free hand and shook his head.

"We can't. Our Mum is lovely but she'd tell everyone."

"Seeing as we already have to share you with each other, we don't want to have to do it with the rest of the world. Soul bonds are rare."

"Really rare."

"We would be famous overnight..."

"And we know you hate being the centre of attention."

"Why are you two doing that?" She demanded, suddenly.

They leaned down so they were at eye level with her.

"Doing what?"

"Talking out loud." She insisted. "You normally have these discussions in your head. I've seen you do it."

"We were trying to include you," Fred informed her, sniffing in mock indignation.

"But however, if our efforts are wasted upon you then we shall leave."

Hermione giggled as they stood in unison, bowed slightly and moved towards the door.

"Oh, almighty Fred and George I apologise." Hermione curtsied low like she'd seen on television and adopted a simpering expression. "I overlooked your gift, but now I recognise it for the joyous offering that it was." They stared at her over their shoulders, two pairs of deep blue eyes boring into her. She increased her smile by a few kilowatts and they started laughing, beaming happily at her in their glee.

They did get some work done. The Twins were now two weeks ahead of their homework and swore to Hermione that they had learned more in one day of studying with her than they had in four months of classes. Something about her, they said, gave them the ability to concentrate without wanting to throw fireworks at people. They appeared in the Great Hall for meals, where Harry handed over the homework for the classes they'd missed.

"Snape wasn't even completely awful today," Harry shook his head in amusement. "I know the only reason he's remotely nice to me is because of my last name."

Hermione raised her eyes from her soup.

"What do you mean?"

"Ah. Well, the Black family had a reputation for being..."

"Evil."

Harry glared at Fred.

"I was going to say dark. Many of the family used to follow You-Know-Who. Sirius didn't obviously. In fact, his mother disowned him because of it. Anyway, I think Snape believes I'm descended from another part of the family and I am not the spawn of his most hated enemy Sirius Black."

Hermione giggled and Harry stared at her in shock.

"I don't think I will ever get used to you doing that. Are you packed?"

"Yes..."

"I believe we are..."

"Except for presents."

Harry frowned.

"It's disturbing enough when Fred and George speak in tandem, Hermione. When you join in is just terrifying." He received three disturbingly similar mischievous grins. "Urgh stop it. It's a good thing Ron hangs around with Seamus and Dean. I don't think I could cope with the four of you. Presents?"  
Hermione nodded.

"For Sirius. It's polite to get your host a gift, especially at Christmas."

"So she says" was muttered from Hermione's left. But not very loudly.

Harry tucked his head to one side and crinkled his nose in thought. "If the Twins did a run to Honeydukes you could bring him some fudge. He'd like that. And chocolate for Uncle Remi."  
Hermione nodded in satisfaction and they went back to their lunch.

Hermione had spent the rest of the day in the Gryffindor common room. When it finally emptied after dinner, the Twins sent her to get her pyjamas and she ended up in George's bed.

"Ginny used to do this when she was little." Fred muttered as he watched Hermione curl up on the edge of George's bed. "Bill was always waking up to find she'd snuck in there in the middle of the night and curled up next to him. I don't think he ever minded though." The Twins dressed in the bathroom in their pyjamas and stood at the foot of their beds. It was strange contemplating sharing a room with a girl. But it wasn't really a girl, was it? Fred thought about this. It was Hermione and she didn't really count.

"I can sleep on the floor if you like." She offered irritably. 

"No."

"We thought you were asleep."

"Nope." Hermione yawned and curled the duvet around her. "I have nightmares."

The Twins sighed and clambered into their respective beds. Lee was already asleep and George felt Hermione relax slightly as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The plan had been to wake at about three but they overslept and didn't wake up until about four. George frowned slightly as he felt the unfamiliar sensation of holding someone in his arms as he slept. He must have moved over in his sleep.

"Hermione."

"..."

George sat up and glanced over to see his brother pulling on his jumper. Fred shrugged.

"She's in your bed. You wake her up."

"Hermione?"

"What?" The reply was muffled and low, as though he was talking to a sleepy tiger. Her hair had come loose in her sleep and had curled around her head obscuring her features.

"Time to go."

"Oh."

Quiet as a ghost Hermione got to her feet, pulling on the only jumper she'd brought with her to Hogwarts from the Orphanage. George got dressed and soon they were creeping down the dormitory stairs, the Marauders Map held in front of them. The Twins had borrowed it back from Harry, who was now the official owner. They made it down to the first floor without incident and Hermione was dragged into a passageway which deposited her in a part of the castle completely unfamiliar to her.

"Here we are." Fred murmured. They were standing in front of a door, belonging to a long-forgotten classroom.

"Don't you think it's strange that Hogwarts has so many empty classrooms?" Hermione asked randomly.

The Twins looked at her.

"Not really. When the Founders built the castle, the magical population was much greater, especially in comparison to muggles."

"They died from things we had cures for, like a lack of soap."

"So originally all of these classrooms were filled. We had multiple teachers for each subjects and much larger classes."

She stared at them.

"Why isn't this mentioned in any books I've ever read?" She whispered. 

Fred winced slightly.

"Well, wizards don't like talking about it. It worries people that our population is dying out. More and more pureblood families produce squibs."

"People from magical families with no magic," George explained. 

"It's because of the inbreeding."

Hermione was aware that a deserted corridor in the middle of the night was not the best place to discuss genetics but she was curious.

"Inbreeding?"

"Families..."

"Purebloods like us and the Malfoys and the Blacks."

"Have intermarried for years. It causes squibs. The Weasleys haven't been too bad as we don't tend to marry within the family. Mum and Dad aren't related at all. But the Black's married cousins for years. Probably why they were so mad."

"So muggleborns can't marry purebloods?"

"Oh no. You can. It's just many would disapprove of it. Anyway. Get the door Fred."

Fred pushed the door open and George tugged Hermione into the empty classroom. Everything was dusty, with the exception of a large ornate mirror which stood in the corner.

"We found this last night. It was just standing here."

Hermione curled her fingers into her gloves and wished she'd worn shoes. It was cold in that classroom. Although the dust was thick, there was no lamps light nor any warmth provided by the Victorian style radiators, with their thick copper pipes. Fred gave her a push and Hermione wandered in front of the mirror. There she stood, tiny in her pyjamas, jumper and bare feet but without her gloves and beside her stood...

She twisted around and saw the twins standing by the door, well out of sight of the mirror. But in the mirror they stood right next to her, each holding a tattooed hand. They look happy and each smiled slightly as though being in the same presence as the other brought contentment.

"How...?"

"It tells you your hearts desire. Says so in the inscription across the top. We thought you ought to see it."

"What do you two see?"

They stepped forward and stood next to her, a hand on each shoulder. At thirteen they towered over her and Hermione had to crane her neck to look up at them.

"We see you."

* * *

The Hogwarts Express had less carriages than it did at the start of term. Many students had elected to stay at school over the holidays including Ron and Percy Weasley because their parents were going to see Charlie in Romania. The Twins had taken Percy aside and made him promise to spend Christmas with his brother.

"Christmas is for family." They had insisted.

Percy had tactfully not reminded them that they weren't spending Christmas with their family either. For one thing, the Twins always had family because they were always together. For another...Percy approved of Hermione. She was quiet, didn't cause a fuss and had never been caught breaking the rules. He was certain she did break several (she was friends with the Twins after all) but she did it in a fashion that meant she caused no extra grief for anyone, something Percy approved of. He'd also checked in with the Twins' Professors, something he'd done periodically since their arrival in first year. He was their big brother after all. His way of looking after his siblings was just slightly more academic. Their marks had increased from Acceptable to Exceed Expectations, with seemingly no extra effort.

Hermione curled up in the corner of the compartment. Fred and George had wandered off in search of the trolley lady, leaving her in peace to read. Harry by comparison to her quiet acceptance, was virtually bouncing in his seat.

"Why are you so excited?" Harry smirked. By now he was used to Hermione's perpetual sense of calm. To others she sounded cruel and empty, almost cold. The Twins brother, Ron had tried to talk to her once. Hermione had merely glared at him until his ears had turned pink and he'd backed away. Harry had laughed over that for days.

"Well, I don't know about you but for me, Christmas is a time to be jolly, with mistletoe and holly..." Harry scratched his head. "And other things ending in olly." He trailed off and grinned sheepishly. Harry leaned back in the seat and his gaze caught on the luggage rack above her head. There was a large school trunk filled with the twins' muggle clothing, and one small, slightly battered satchel.  
"Is that all you're taking with you?"

Hermione blushed slightly "I pack small."

He frowned at her. "You do know we're going for two weeks don't you?"

"Yes."

"Okay then." Harry ruffled his hair and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when we arrive will you?"

"Of course, sleeping beauty."

One eye was cracked open. "You know I'm gorgeous."

Hermione chuckled quietly. "I know you're an idiot."

Harry smiled and went to sleep.

* * *

Hermione and the Twins trailed after Harry. He was dragging his trunk behind him. Fred and George had their's between them and Hermione followed on behind, her satchel looped over one shoulder. Sirius Black leaned against the wall. He was in his early thirties, handsome and arrogant, dressed in rich clothes. His black hair was just long enough to touch his collar. He looked like a much older Harry. From the ring on his finger to the arrogant tilt to his head he was every inch Lord Black. He spread his arms wide and Harry leapt into them, regardless of the amused grins he received from passing students.  
"Missed you Prongslet." Hermione barely made out the words Sirius whispered into Harry's shoulder. Harry was dangling from the tall man's arms, his feet only just skimming the tarmac of the platform. Her normally suave friend had been reduced to the little boy he really was. The Twins grinned happily on either side of her. When they saw their own parents after a long year away from them for the first time their reaction was the same. For that first day back there were no arguments, no pranks, no teasing. Everyone was just happy to be home and together. Sirius Black eventually lowered his son to the ground and turned to the trio. Fred and George, in perfect synchronisation, flourished flowery bows low to the ground, until their fringes almost touched the paving stones.

"Oh great Padfoot, we mere pranksters are not worthy to stand in the presence of a Marauder."

Sirius, keeping his face perfectly straight, returned the gesture managing to get slightly lower.

"I accept your praise and bask in your adoration, I the most mighty of Marauders."

Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes. Harry coughed and all three straightened up.

"I believe introductions are in order. Sirius, this is Fred and George Weasley." The twins bowed again. "And the girl rolling her eyes at the back would be Twist. I am under orders not to tell you her name."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. Hermione mirrored the gesture. They stared at each other in silence for almost five seconds, before Sirius' face cracked into a massive smile.

"Well met Lady Twist." Hermione nodded as though the title was expected. The Twins cracked up.

Sirius glanced around the rapidly emptying platform.

"We'd better shift. We'll fly home. Easier than involving a port key or taking the night bus. Harry tells me you're all decent fliers."

The Twins were pulling their brooms out of their trunks and Hermione winced.

"Erm, I haven't got a broom with me, Mr Black. Mine belongs to the school."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"That's okay. I brought a spare in case." From his pocket Sirius produced two miniature broomsticks almost three inches long. Hermione gazed at them in amazement. The detail on them was amazing. It was almost as though...

"You've shrunk them." She realised joyfully.

Sirius nodded happily.

"Well spotted." Retrieving his wand from another pocket he tapped the brooms gently. Slowly they began to grow. It took almost ten seconds for them to reach full size. Sirius handed one to Hermione. "I'll shrink your trunks too, boys. Just so it's easier to fly."

That done Sirius led them through the barrier and back into the muggle world. Once they were out of Kings Cross Station, Sirius wandered through the streets until he came to a secluded back ally. It was dark and dingy and looked as though no human had wandered down here in five years. Sirius nodded as though satisfied and turned back to them, wand raised.

"Because it's night time we should be fine with brooms. Twist why don't you have a coat?"

Hermione shrugged and didn't answer. How could she tell someone she simply didn't own one?

"It's a good thing your broom has built-in warming charms. You three are wearing cloaks so we should be fine. Mount up."

Hermione accepted the broom Sirius tossed to her. She swung her leg over, glad she wasn't wearing a skirt. At Sirius' signal they kicked off shooting quickly into the sky. Whatever this broom was, and Hermione cursed herself for not checking, it was considerably better than the one she rode at school. The one at school had a predisposition for turning left, a fault Hermione spent a lot of time correcting. If she didn't she simply flew in smaller and smaller circles until she fell off due to dizziness, something her fellow chasers found hilarious.

They flew in formation. Sirius and Harry in front, with Hermione Fred and George flying in tandem behind them. As the cold air of the nights sky hit her, Hermione felt the warming charms on her broomstick begin to work. The handle heated up slowly until it was a comfortable room temperature, spreading warmth along her hands and arms. When she got really cold she could lay herself flat out along the brooms stick. But with the wind blowing her hair back as they moved with considerable speed, Hermione grinned happily. On either side of her the twins whooped in glee as they soared through the air like a pair of red haired bullets. Harry flew in circles around Sirius, showing off. Hermione could just make out the deep chuckle of Sirius' laughter as the wind snatched it from the air.

* * *

They flew for almost an hour. The novelty had worn off and eventually they flew out of growing determination for warmth. Fred almost cried with relief when Sirius angled his broomstick for the ground. He and George were used to the cold, and they had their cloaks on to keep the worst of it out. But even with that they were both frozen. But it wasn't himself he was worried about. Warming charms only work so far. Hermione didn't have a jacket, she was stuck in her jumper and jeans. He glanced at his brother. George looked as worried as he did. In fact if he focused hard enough, Fred could feel the worry coming off his brother in waves. But from Hermione he could feel...nothing. Fred edged his broom closer to her, until he could lay a hand on her shoulder. She didn't even jump. When she turned to look at him sleepily, he could see her features were pale. George grabbed hold of her broom from the other side and together they angled her to follow Sirius. They couldn't land soon enough. The empty dirt lane had a set of ornate gates at the end which Fred barely noticed. He hauled Hermione off her broomstick and into his arms. George grabbed the brooms and they turned, glaring, towards Sirius. Harry's eyes widened when he saw her and he ran on ahead to open the gates.

Sirius scowled.

"What happened to her?"

"She's frozen." George snarled. Sirius blinked at the tone of voice before he handed them a scrap of parchment.  
"Read it. Quickly." He stood impatiently and waited.

Fred roused Hermione enough for her to read the words written in ink.

_The address for Potter Manor is;_

_Potter Manor,_

_No' 1_

_Beech Lane_

_Hereford_

_England._

Fred started slightly as the massive house seemingly jumped into view behind the gates. Walls grew and ivy dangled as Potter Manor made itself known to its guests.

They were up the drive in no time at all. The main door was ignored as Sirius led them around the house to a side entrance.

"Warmest room available." He muttered to Harry.

Hermione had fallen asleep. There is something about a person which ensures that when they fall into unconsciousness they become twice as heavy as usual. Luckily for Fred Hermione didn't weigh very much to begin with. George was almost crackling with fury. Hermione was their friend and it was their job to keep her safe. If they couldn't manage that on one stupid broom ride...

The door was small. At least in comparison to the rest of the house. Sirius led them into a warm kitchen with cream walls, glinting copper pans and seemed to scream the phrase "Hearth and Home."

Sirius sat them down at the table.

"Is she asleep?" Harry asked breaking the silence. Fred nodded and Harry blinked in understanding.

He explained to his confused godfather.

"Hermione doesn't sleep. In fact, I reckon she'd be classed as a chronic insomniac. She only sleeps when she's truly exhausted, ill or with the Twins."

"She got frozen up there." George murmured.

Sirius stared at the trio, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then he snapped his fingers. A house elf appeared, dressed in a clean dress, with a pinafore wrapped around her tiny waist. The three teenagers barely blinked.

"Could you fetch us a blanket and some hot chocolate Filly?"

The elf nodded and clicked her own fingers. A blanket appeared around Hermione, tucked in tight around her body. She didn't even stir. The tiny elf padded over to the range and began to make the hot chocolate.

"I'm sorry about this, boys." Sirius frowned. "The warming charms should have been enough."

"Not for someone as light as Twist." For the first time, Sirius noticed how small the girl was. It wasn't her height, for she had grown since she'd come to Hogwarts. It was the lack of padding on her bones. That wasn't to say she was anorexic. In Sirius' job he'd seen more than a few women, starving themselves to death. He'd even had to have one hospitalised. She was just so very slight.

Hermione stirred when the smell of hot chocolate began to permeate the room. Sirius suspected Filly had added her own magic to the blanket to warm the girl, as the blue tinge to her face had receded almost immediately. Sirius coughed and the girl woke with a start. The Twins relaxed slightly and breathed out. Sirius doubted they were even aware of it.

"Fred?"

"Yes, Amazon?"

"Put me down."

Fred, reluctantly let her sit on the bench next to him. Hermione glanced around with interest.

"This is a very nice kitchen." She announced.

The Twins smirked slightly.

"Polite as always Lady Twist."

"Shut up. What time is it?"

Sirius answered.

"Almost seven o clock. We're having hot chocolate before dinner." Sirius' words were punctuated by the arrival of five mugs of steaming chocolate. "Twist this is Filly our house elf."

The elf curtsied deeply and Hermione stood from her seat and moved to stand in front of the elf.

"Pleased to meet you Filly." And she curtsied back. For those that don't know, being able to curtsey in jeans is a hard skill. The elf turned pink and beamed at the girl.

"Mistress Twist has shown me a great honour. It will be Filly's pleasure to serve Mistress."

Hermione frowned and sat down again. Fred could almost see her planning to look up House Elves.

"Sirius?" Harry asked. "Where is Remus?"

Sirius made a general gesture which meant around and sprang to his feet.

"Come on." Picking up their mugs and making sure Hermione was still wrapped in her blanket they followed the eccentric prankster. They wandered along a dark hallway until they emerged into a brightly lit sitting room. Sirius vaulted onto a sofa, dangling his feet off the end as he did so, before stretching out completely on the cushions.

"MOONY!"

Hermione jumped, not used to such loud noises, although being friends with the twins she probably should have been. They waited quietly in the room for a while until she was able to pick up footsteps coming closer. Eventually a door opened and a tall man with sandy hair stuck his head around the door.

"Honestly Sirius." He berated "These nice people will think you're not house trained." He strode in and smiled rather sheepishly at them. "Hello Harry, nice to see you again," Harry repeated his earlier display and leapt at the man. While her friend impersonated a human limpet Hermione smiled tentatively at him, unconsciously linking hands with Fred's free hand whilst George rested his on her shoulder. The steam from their mugs rose in spirals and the quiet was interrupted by the strangers deep chuckling.

"Harry let me go please."

The raven-haired teen dropped the ground and blushed as he caught the amused expressions on his friends faces.

"As I strongly suspect Sirius has been too uncouth to introduce me. I am Remus Lupin. Feel free to call me Remus." The trio smiled in response. "And you three must be Fred, George and Twist?"

Hermione nodded. Remus frowned. "Why are you wearing a blanket?"

"A slight case of hypothermia on the flight here." Hermione murmured.

Remus simply shook his head in disbelief.

"Only Sirius Black would be irresponsible enough to fly children that far in December." Remus glared at the offending Marauder. Hermione smiled slightly when she noticed that at some point during Remus' introduction he had fallen asleep himself.

"Ignore him." Harry chuckled. "He does that. C'mon we'll show you to your room."

* * *

Normally Remus would have had a problem with housing three people in the same room. The two brothers were fine, but the young first year was a girl and even were-wolves know where to draw the limit of propriety. However, Harry had owled him earlier that week to explain that Hermione had to sleep in the same room as the Twins. Remus had passed the letter to Sirius, who'd shrugged.

"They're only thirteen. It'll be fine."

So Remus, against his better judgement, led the three guests to their bedroom. He stood and watched as they looked around the opulent room with awe and no small amount of disbelief. He knew the Weasley family barely got by. Everyone did. So he wasn't surprised by them. It was the little girl. The little girl who bore all the signs of mistreatment and neglect that he knew so well. Harry nudged him out of his reverie.

"Uncle Remi, could you un-shrink the Twins trunk?" Harry offered him the maroon luggage in the palm of his hand. A wand wave later and the heavy trunk banged onto the floor.

"Doesn't Twist have a trunk?" He asked. The girl shook her head silently and dropped her satchel onto the second of the three beds.

"I pack light." She stood in front of him with one eyebrow raised. Remus stared back at her and guessed she knew that he knew what that meant. He nodded once.

"Well, then it's time for dinner. Who wants to wake Sirius?"

* * *

Dinner was a happy affair, once they woke Sirius from his nap. Hermione laughed quietly to herself as she dragged herself up the staircase. She'd never met anyone who barked in their sleep. The twins had spent dinner being happily regaled of the tales of the Marauders. No one had commented on their gloves. In this house of oddments, they didn't seem out of place. The tall raggedy man, the aristocratic playboy, the boy with two names, a pair of daft twins and the orphan. In a strange sort of way, they fitted together. She was exhausted though and she sat down on the step, pondering the rest of the flight.

"Up you get little Amazon." An arm on each side and Hermione almost flew up the staircase. She wasn't even sure they let her feet touch the ground. The twins had been slightly overprotective tonight, but she could hardly blame them after the broom incident. They put her down once they reached their room and the three of them stood surveying the scene.

"Do you think Sirius would mind if we moved the beds together?"

She glanced at George in surprise.

"Why?"

"Well they're a bit small for two people and you need to get to sleep tonight." Fred nodded in agreement and the two boys began to shove the beds together, one on either side of Hermione's. She shrugged.

She would sleep better with them there and really she preferred it. She wandered off to the bathroom to get changed. Eventually, she emerged and clambered into the middle of the now giant bed. She crawled under the duvet, trying not to disturb Fred who was already curled up on her left. She tugged her gloves off, happy to free her hands. She tucked the gloves under her pillow and lay down. It wasn't until the light went out and George curled up on her right that she began to drift off.

* * *

**Updated 2019**


	8. A Black Christmas

_Hermione would tell me later that that Christmas spent with the Blacks in Potter Manor was one of the happiest she'd had since her parents had died. Minerva and I worried about the girl. In classes she was exceptionally quiet, never seeking to draw attention to herself or cause trouble. Although we were aware that she probably did cause trouble. Her arrival at Hogwarts signalled a change in the pranks of the Weasley twins, who expanded into a much more advanced form of magic. They also became much harder to catch. We had a small feeling that this had something to do with Hermione's influence on them. Still, the girl was hardly ever seen to smile or laugh, except in the company of her bond mates. So I was exceptionally proud to learn that I had played a role in her happiness that Christmas. We had grown attached to her, Minerva and I, having never taught a more dedicated student._

* * *

Remus crept quietly down the hallway. He was always the first up, Harry having been encouraged to sleep in from a young age by Sirius, who didn't want to deal with a small child early in the morning. He smiled slightly at the thought of Harry having to get up at what he would have considered ludicrously early for breakfast at Hogwarts. The only occupied guest room was coming up on his left. From here he could see that the door had been left open, possibly as a gesture of good faith. Wolves are nosey by nature and Remus stood in the doorway staring around the dark room. As his eyes adjusted to the gloom he could see that the three beds had been pushed together. If he'd been in a particularly wolfish state of mind he'd have called it a sleep heap. Two tufts of red hair were just visible above the blankets and sandwiched between them Remus could just about make of a few wisps of curly brown hair. He frowned. This was not...normal, but he decided to leave them to it. The poor girl must be roasting.

* * *

The first thing that occurred to Hermione was that it was hot. Really hot. Fighting her way through the layers of blankets and arms Hermione drew in a deep breath of cool air and glanced around her. The twins, who'd had their arms wrapped around her as they slept, sighed slightly and curled up on their respective sides of the bed. Carefully, she worked her way out of the covers and stood at the foot of her bed, rummaging through her satchel. Yesterday's clothes were still drying from being washed in the sink last night. She'd have to wear her uniform. The orphanage had not been able to afford multiple outfits for its occupants. Children grow quickly and finding them all clothes that fit for every day of the week was next to impossible where there were almost 30 of them. So during the week, the children wore their uniforms. Dresses for the girls, because they could all be washed in one go and were easy to fit and cheap to make. Hermione owned several of these and pulled one of them over her head, glad it had long sleeves to cover her bond marks. She fiddled with her hair in front of the mirror until the plait draped over her shoulder and obscured the Orphanage insignia. Glancing at the clock on the wall she frowned. Breakfast would be well over by now at Hogwarts. She blew lightly in Fred's ear and he slapped the side of his face to ward off the irritation. Hermione giggled at his confused expression as he cracked an eye open.

"Morning trouble. You need to get George up, I think we're late for breakfast."

There are two things which will get a Weasley to move quickly in the morning. Molly and food. Fred leapt out of bed and began to wake his brother. Hermione made to leave.

"Twist?"

She turned back to Fred and he tossed something to her. Chaser training kicking in, Hermione scooped it out of the air, without looking at them.

"Gloves."

Smiling Hermione left, tugging the damp leather gloves on and headed down the main staircase. Judging by the smell of fried meat breakfast was being served in the same place as dinner last night. The dining room was large and the table laden with tureens of food. Hermione smiled at the only other occupant, which was Remus. He frowned at her slightly, giving her gloved hands a confused glance, but smiled back.

"Am I up late?" She asked quietly, helping herself to eggs.

Remus glanced up for the large plate of bacon, sausages and what looked like black pudding in front of him and laughed.

"No. Actually you're up pretty early. Sirius doesn't usually rouse himself until nine-thirty. It's usually only me up this early."

"Oh." Hermione regarded the table with amazement. "This is a lot of food."

"Mmmm. Yes. Filly is thrilled to have so many people to look after. She's particularly taken with you by the way, so expect large servings of cake and..." Remus trailed off as he was interrupted by the thunder of feet down the stairs. They paused on the landing before a bellow shook the house.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER-BLACK!"

The feet resumed their hasty exodus before they manifested at the bottom of the staircase. Harry, dressed for the day, glanced around the room in wide-eyed fear, before yelling "Hide me!" and leaping under the table. Hermione could feel him shaking against her legs. It was probably more with laughter than fear.

"What did you do Harry?"

A quiet mutter from under the table answered Remus.

"Ask Twist?"

Remus switched his disapproving glare to Hermione who smiled sweetly and buttered her toast.

"I am guessing, and this is simply an assumption you understand, that someone, one would imagine Harry, did something to Mr Black's hair." She added marmalade to her toast and frowned slightly. "But that's simply a guess of course and shouldn't be taken with much seriousness."

"Of course." Murmured Remus, rubbing his temples slightly and mutter something about the reincarnation of Prongs. A quiet snickering came from under the table. Hermione passed the toast to Harry who munched quietly.

A loud thundering could be heard from above. Remus and Hermione waited in silence until the dishevelled and topless figure of Sirius Black appeared in the doorway. Remus lost it immediately and dissolved into laughter.

"Oh, sweet Merlin." He chuckled helplessly. "Look at your hair!"

Sirius's hair had been styled into a foot tall Mohawk. This in itself would have been a cause for hilarity, had it not been for the fact that it had been dyed lime green. Hermione just stopped herself from smiling. Just.

"Where is he?" The irate wizard snarled.

Hermione smiled gently and felt Harry freeze under the table.

"I believe he ran outside to hide in the garden, Mr Black."

"AH HA!" Sirius spun on his heel and raced off to the back door, which shut with a bang some moments later. Remus grinned at Hermione who simply assumed a look of angelic innocence and wrapped her fist on the table.

"Harry, I swear if you get marmalade on my dress I will kill you."

Harry, very carefully, edged out from under the table and took a seat next to Remus, out of reach of Hermione.

The twins appeared moments later, no doubt summoned by the smell of food. Or by the racket caused by Harry, Hermione wasn't sure which. Harry snickered as the Twins bowed deeply to Remus and slid quietly into seats on either side of Hermione giving her a quick hug as greeting. Hermione ignored this and continued eating her breakfast.

Fred's eyes were caught by the sight of Sirius Black running from shrub to shrub through the window, skidding slightly in the snow. He raised his hand tentatively.

"Er, excuse me Mr Lupin?"

Fred and George had received a letter from their mother telling them exactly what would happen if they weren't on their best behaviour. There wouldn't be a time when any child of Molly's was not scared of the wrath of their mother. "Why is Mr Black running around outside?"

Harry burst into peals of laughter and Remus frowned at him.

"Harry here thought it was a good idea to mess with Sirius' hair."

On either side of her, Hermione felt the Twins freeze as they caught on.

"Harry, you didn't did you?" Fred begged.

"Please tell me you didn't." George pleaded.

"I warned him." Hermione murmured.

"Warned him about what? What's going to happen to Sirius?" Remus fixed them all with a Percy like stare. Fred, George and Hermione frowned at each other. Eventually, George was offered as the sacrificial lamb. He ruffled his hair and frowned.

"Well Sirius' hair is the result of a prank we've been working on."

"There is a certain first year Slytherin who is overly fond of hair gel,"

"The idea was to replace it with this stuff,"

"Which changes you're hair to something daft, like..." Fred gestured out the window helplessly.

"However," Hermione broke in. "As Harry knew we haven't managed to get the charms quite right yet." She glared at the remorseless boy. "It's only supposed to last for two hours or so. But we can't get the timing to stick. Hopefully, it will wear off in an hour or so."

Remus stared in awe at the trio.

"You three came up with this on your own?"

They shrugged and busied themselves with their plates.

He blinked in amazement before he seemed to come back down to earth.

"So how long will Sirius be like that? Because he's somewhat vain about his hair. Something he and Prongslet share." Harry blushed slightly.

A crackle from the large fireplace drew their attention. A woman's face was floating in the flames.

"Morning Remus." She called.

"Morning Amelia." He called back, twisting in his chair. 

"Aunt Amy!" Harry called. The blond woman's head swivelled to Harry and she grinned happily.

"Heya Harry. How's school been? Susan told me she'd seen you."

They gathered on the hearth in front of the fire. Hermione had never seen anything like the head floating in the fire.

"Oh, it's been great. I've been studying with Susan occasionally."

Amelia beamed.

"I'm glad. But anyway, is Sirius around, Remi? I need to see him."

"Why yes, he is." Remus' face was carefully blank and Hermione watched him with interest. His expression was eerily similar to the one the Twins pulled when they were in the middle of a prank and wanted to look innocent "Come over. He'd love to see you."

The woman, who Hermione supposed had to be Amelia Bones, smiled happily.

"Clear the fireplace then."

The floating head disappeared and Remus shooed them back slightly. A flash of green flames and Amelia stepped into the room, brushing soot off her robes. Harry tackled her in one of his overenthusiastic hugs and she smiled at Remus over Harry's head, as she ruffled his hair. She was tall and imposing, something about her reminded Hermione of a military general, with her slightly military uniform. But her eyes were warm and her face handsome, as she looked around at them.

"Whose all this then Remus?"

Remus smiled.

"Houseguests. Unusual for us, I know. But we made an exception for them. The twins are Fred and George Weasley."

Amelia nodded.

"With hair like that, I should have guessed. I work at the ministry with your father. Met your eldest brother a time or two as well."

She turned an expectant gaze on Hermione and Remus coughed slightly.

"And the girl in the corner, who looks like she's working out if she can beat you in a fight is Twist. We don't know her real name. No one will tell us."

Amelia nodded as though this was perfectly normal as she detached Harry from around her waist.

"Where is he?"

Remus grinned devilishly.

"He's in the garden. Why don't you head on out and surprise him?"

She nodded and the statuesque blond swept out of the room. Fred raised an eyebrow at Remus.

"It's amazing how people forget that I was involved in the pranking part of the Marauders." He had them gather by the window to watch.

Sirius had his head in a Rhododendron bush and was still shouting for Harry. Amelia approached him quietly through the snow and tapped him on the shoulder. Turning Sirius went pale and screamed like a girl. Clapping both hands to his head he fled indoors, leaving Amelia looking confused in the back garden.

Remus smirked.

"Told you he was vain."

* * *

When Amelia joined them inside, Remus informed her of the prank over coffee. Hermione joined Harry at the foot of the large staircase, trying to coax Sirius to come down and talk to his girlfriend.

"Come on Sirius!" Harry bellowed up the stairs. "She doesn't care how daft you look."

"I'm not coming down!" Sirius retorted mulishly.

"She looks at your ugly mug anyway. Personally I think it's an improvement."

"HARRY!"

* * *

Eventually, Sirius reappeared with a large Gryffindor scarf wrapped tightly over his head which he refused to remove. They spent the rest of the morning playing hide and seek in the house. The Twins always hid together, making them easy to find. Because no one spots two people hiding behind a plant pot. Surprisingly Amelia joined in and turned out to be very good. Apparently part of the Auror training was just a more complex version of the game.

They had soup for lunch, by which time Sirius' hair had returned to normal much to his intense relief. Hermione spotted Fred and George making a note of the duration on a piece of paper.

Sirius declared that they had to have a snowball fight. Well, he didn't announce it. He levitated a small snowdrift through the window and onto Harry and then he told them. He was still irritated about being pranked so easily, claiming his pride as a Marauder was irrefutably tarnished. Hermione ran upstairs and changed into her jeans, her dress being unsuitable for the snow. The fabric was still damp and she was frozen almost immediately, but no one noticed which was the important thing. The fight lasted for almost an hour, as the three adults teamed up against the children. Sirius and Harry wandered into the large copse of Norway Spruces and picked out a tree for the main sitting room, something Remus told her was a tradition. They spent the rest of the afternoon decorating it, bedecking it in tinsel, enchanted fairy lights, baubles and various nick-nacks. In the end, it looked terribly gaudy and tacky, as only a Christmas tree decorated by children will. They sat down at supper, quite exhausted from the day.

"Mr Black?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, girl with a nickname which I can't understand."

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living?"

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes as Sirius beamed at her.

"I run a muggle theatre company. Lily always said I was a drama queen. Now I direct drama queens for a living. Harry hates it because he can't stand Shakespeare and I had to bring him to performances when he was younger. On the plus side, he can recite a lot of it."

Hermione was surprised and told him so. He shrugged.

"I couldn't remain an Auror, not while I had to raise Prongslet. So I went into the theatre."

"Oh." Hermione paused for a second. "Which company is it?"

"A small Shakespear company."

She grinned at him.

"I am so not telling you my name."

Sirius pointed a fork at her.

"I will figure it out. I have two clues now. Firstly, you are muggleborn or the name of my company wouldn't have meant a flobberworm to you. Secondly, your name is Shakespearian. Is it Helena?"

"Nope."

"Juliet?"

"Too obvious."

"Bianca?"

"Not even close."

"Am I the only one..." Fred whispered to Harry. "Who has no idea what they're talking about?"

Harry just laughed.

"You get used to it."

"So Amelia, whose looking after Susan?" Sirius asked, spearing a large piece of broccoli.

"She's at Hogwarts. I'm working most of the holidays, alternating with Shacklebolt, so there's no point in her coming home, just to be on her own."

"You know we're always happy to have her, Amy." Remus murmured, smiling gently.

"I know Remus, but I can't be a burden on you."

"Oh, it's quite all right. She'll be family soon enough."

Amelia frowned and Sirius went pale, glaring at his friend.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, nothing."

Amelia frowned and Sirius changed the subject.

"Will you be staying the night Amy?"

"That depends. Will you make it worth my while?"

Harry cleared his throat loudly and both adults froze.

"Unless you both wish your adopted son to be sick, I'll ask you not to talk about that at the dinner table."

"Adopted?" Hermione asked.

Harry smiled and nodded.

"If you look on my official adoption form it says " _Adopted by Sirius Orion Black and Amelia H Bones."_ It's wizard law. Although she still won't tell me what her middle name is." He scowled at her playfully.

"Huh."

Amelia had finished blushing.

"Sorry Harry." She muttered. Sirius just grinned unrepentantly and kissed her cheek. "Yes, I will be, although I'll have to leave early. I'm on duty tomorrow." Looking desperate to change the subject she asked: "Why are you wearing your wet Quidditch gloves at the table?"

Hermione, Fred and George froze slightly neither of them looking at the other two.

"Wood says it's good practise for Quidditch, Miss Bones." Hermione offered. She had a feeling this woman would see through any lie she offered up and looked desperately at Harry for support.

"But they're soaking wet. You're almost blue as it is Twist."

"We'll be all right. But thank you."

"It's okay." Harry whispered. "You can trust them. You know our secret. Tell them yours."

"Which secret of ours do they know?" Amelia asked setting down her cutlery, Auror senses tingling.

Hermione shrugged slightly.

"We know about Harry Potter."

She glanced at Fred, and then at George and together they pulled of their leather gloves, folded them neatly by their plates and went back to eating. The marks showed up clearly against their pale skin and he silence in the room was oppressive, as the adults stared at them in shock. Fred and George shuffled closer to Hermione for comfort but otherwise didn't look up from their plates.

"Is that..." Sirius began.

"Yes." Fred grinned at him. "Pass the mash Mr Black."

* * *

"Miss Twist?" A small voice asked.

Hermione looked around at the empty corridor and eventually, her eyes came to rest on the tiny house elf and she smiled warmly at odds with the shiver racked her small frame.

"Hello Filly. How are you?"

"Filly is very well Mistress. Mistress may I asks you a question?" The tiny elf was wringing her hands in worry and staring up at her with large green eyes.

"Of course."

"Why is Mistress wearing wet clothes?"

Hermione sat on the floor, slightly startling Filly.

"Because I only have two changes of clothes, and I couldn't wear my dress outside. I washed these in the sink last night, so they'd be clean. They haven't dried yet. The snow didn't really help either."

The elf frowned and clicked her fingers. Immediately Hermione's clothes began to steam as they dried out on her body. She looked up amazed.

"Thank you Filly. You didn't have to do that."

Those large green eyes filled with tears.

"It was a pleasure for Filly to serve such a nice witch. If you is leaving your clothes at the foot of your bed Filly will make sure they are nice to wear again."

"That is very kind of you but I couldn't ask you to do that."

The tears vanished and she stood straighter with a sort of maternal pride.

"Filly will not allow such a kind and polite mistress to wear dirty clothes. It would be an honour."

Hermione sensed she was going to get nowhere with this and gave in.

"All right then. Thank you."

The elf nodded happily.

"Tis nothing. Off to bed with you, young Mistress."

Somewhat bemused Hermione found herself being chivvied off to bed by a being that barely reached her waist. As she lay between the twins that night, clothes folded in a neat pile at the foot of her bed, she stared at the quiet ceiling above. She wasn't tired, feeling almost restless. Her parents would have loved this house. Her mother had taught her all about architecture and buildings. It had been a shared passion, well in as much as a young girl can be passionate about architecture. She missed her parents. Any child would she reasoned, but sometimes she'd come across something that would remind her of them so strongly she'd be almost knocked over. The twins helped. Harry did too but it was mainly the twins. The twins were...

* * *

Hermione blinked and realised she'd fallen asleep mid-thought. Checking the clock on the wall told her it was about five in the morning, much too early for anyone to be awake. Still, Hermione wiggled her way out of the duvet, without waking her companions, and made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. It was always the first thing she did in the morning. She'd wake up and hear her fathers voice saying " _Don't forget to brush them properly."_ Dentists, she mused, left strange life lessons with their children. As quietly as she could Hermione made her way downstairs, feet sinking into the thick carpet. The Christmas Tree glowed as the enchanted lights flickered merrily. There was something incredibly peaceful about a Christmas Tree. The room was dim and the fire had burned down and Hermione spent the next three hours sitting quite happily, arms around her knees, singing to herself.

"You have a lovely voice." She jumped and spun around.

"Good Morning Mr Black." She murmured quietly aware of the sounds of the rest of the house rousing themselves. "You're up early aren't you?"

The Marauder ruffled his hair and grinned happily in his childish pyjamas. They were flannel and had little snitches on them.

"Amelia left early. Besides...IT'S CHRISTMAS." He sang loudly and began to dance around the room. As though summoned by the promise of fun the Twins appeared at the door and linked arms, dancing a jig around the room. Remus and Harry just chuckled from the doorway as Hermione looked on in amusement. Filly appeared with a crack, deposited a tray of breakfast things on the coffee table and burst into tears when Hermione gave her a hug and wished her a Merry Christmas.

Eventually the frivolity settled down and they began to open the brightly wrapped presents.

Fred and George received each a large knitted jumper with their initial on it. Which they immediately swapped with each other. Much to her surprise, Hermione received one too in navy blue like the twins, with a yellow H on the front, and a lovely card from Mrs Weasley who thanked her profusely for keeping the twins out of trouble. Hermione was thrilled with jumper. She'd needed one. From Harry she got a self-inking quill for class and from the twins she received a small potions kit, with ingredients she'd never used before.

Fred grinned. "We need you to keep up with your inventing."

"Also potion-making doesn't come under the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry. So you can use this at home. We checked" George added proudly. They beamed at her when she hugged them, causing Sirius to chuckle quietly. From the trio Sirius and Remus received sweets. Chocolate for Remus and Sirius got the fudge that Harry had recommended. Both wizards, however, smiled in amazement at the wrapping paper Hermione had chosen. She'd convinced Dean Thomas, for the fee of two chocolate frogs, to draw her a picture of a wolf and a picture of a large black dog. She'd then transferred these on to a large sheet of paper and enchanted the drawings to run around the parcels. Sirius promptly stuck his wrapping paper to the wall of the sitting room with a sticking charm. Remus folded his neatly and promised to frame it. They were getting to the bottom of the pile when Remus came across a wooden box with a small envelope on the top.

"It's for you three." He said and passed it over. Fred took the envelope, which read _To F/G/H_ and passed it to George, who passed it to Hermione, who opened it. And then frowned. The only thing inside the envelope was a thick piece of card with what looked like a room inscribed in ink.

"Mr Black do you know what this is?" She asked passing it to him. He frowned slightly and showed Remus. She opened the box, the hinges squeaking slightly. Nestled in the velvet were three silver bracelets, two slim ones and a slightly broader one. Each was embossed with a swirling design which vaguely resembled the bonding tattoos on Hermione's arms and two of them had a name inscribed upon them in golden cursive script. Fred and George.

"That is a goblin communication rune. It's used to contain a message." He passed it back to Hermione. "Tap it with your wand."

Hermione retrieved her wand from where it was tucked behind her ear and tapped the rune. Immediately the slightly squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick filled the room, causing Harry, who hadn't been paying attention, to jump slightly.

" _Good morning you three. First of all, I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas. Secondly here is the solution to your glamour problem. And just in time too. Your gloves were getting filthy. The bracelets are Goblin wrought. The Goblins use a unique process to impress the enchantments into the metal. They won't rust or break, so taking them off for showering and so forth is not necessary. I would advise you to remove them once a week for a few minutes as you may experience a slight numbing._

_Fred and George the ones on the side are yours, they have your names engraved upon them. Hermione yours is the thicker one in the middle. It should come apart into two separate bracelets. Place them on the wrists with the tattoos. The decorations are partly camouflage as Professor McGonagall tells me you can pass them off as muggle friendship bracelets._

_Finally Miss Granger I have been asked to inform you by Professor McGonagall that you have earned yourself a weeks worth of detentions, for sheer foolishness. Leaving without parental permission and failing to alert the school is against the rules and as such you are being punished. Percy Weasley, when asked about your whereabouts kindly informed us that you, and the Twins had left to spend the holidays with Mr Black. Kindly tell Sirius that it is only because Minerva and I trust him that you are being left in his care. That and we have no idea where Sirius is. Well done on that charm work by the way. I told you I'd make a Master of you yet, Mr Black. You'll serve your detentions when you return. Merry Christmas."_

The voice faded and Hermione looked up, slightly fearfully, at Sirius, who was watching her with a mixture of amusement and irritation.

"I thought I asked you to ask your parents for permission?"

Hermione smiled gently.

"My parents are dead, Mr Black. It didn't matter if I asked them or not."

Sirius lost some of his amusement and Fred and George linked hands with her quietly.

"Why didn't you tell McGonagall?"

"Because as a muggleborn at Hogwarts and an orphan, Albus Dumbledore is my guardian. I didn't really want him alerted to the fact that I knew your whereabouts, something he himself remains unaware of."

Sirius scowled.

"This is like arguing with Lily. She just comes up with more and more logic. I can't fight that. Moony, take over."

Remus grinned slightly at Hermione.

"That explains the nickname then doesn't it?"

Hermione nodded.

"It was the Twins idea. Well that and Amazon but only they're allowed to call me that."

The bracelets fitted perfectly, and the marks just seemed to fade out of being.

Bundled up in her new jumper, smiling happily, Hermione felt the best she had in a long time.

* * *

_There ends the account of Hermione's Christmas with the Blacks. She made a lasting impression on Sirius and Remus that holiday, something that we will touch on again later. They returned to Hogwarts for the new term happy and healthy. If only things had stayed that way._

* * *

_Dear Mrs Weasley,_

_I wanted to thank you for my jumper. It fits perfectly and is lovely and warm. So thank you._

_The twins have been on their best behaviour all holiday. Fred was adamant I mention this. Not sure why. It's true at least._

_I'm afraid I cannot take much credit for their behaviour at school. I was ill for a few days last term and they asked permission to look after me from McGonagall. We spent the days studying and they looked after me. So thank you for raising wonderful children._

_I hope you have a lovely Christmas and a happy new year._

_Yours,_

_Hermione Granger._

* * *


	9. Devious Little Firstie

"Sirius?" Remus leaned against the brick wall of Platform nine and three quarters and watched his fellow Marauder out of the corner of his eye. Ahead of them the Twins and Hermione boarded the train, following the enthusiastic Harry who'd gone ahead to secure a compartment.

Sirius rubbed his temples.

"I get the feeling Moony, that whatever you're going to say is going to upset me deeply and bother me for months on end."

"Then I shan't say it."

The two men stood in silence watching the bustling platform.

"All right. Tell me before I explode."

Remus grinned in triumph.

"It's about Hermione."

"Nice girl, isn't she?"

"Oh undeniably. But that's not the point."

"And the point is..." A load whistle signalled the train pulling out of the station. The platform was engulfed in steam and smoke for a while and Remus waited until it had cleared before continuing.

"Did you notice she only had two changes of clothes?"

"What!" Sirius, who'd never been very good at not overreacting, yelled across the platform.

"I asked Filly. She's been washing and repairing them for her. She seems quite taken with the girl."

"Does the school know about this?"

"I seriously doubt it. You remember how it was Padfoot. We wore school uniform almost all the time. Most wore it all day even at weekends. Without Hogsmead trips, how could anyone notice? I guarantee you the boys haven't."

"How do you know?" They wandered through the brick wall and back into muggle London.

"Sirius, how much time did you spend noticing girls clothes?" Remus challenged, smiling slightly.

"I dunno. I spent more time trying to get them out of them, to be honest."

"Exactly. I think I'm going to write to McGonagall with my concerns."

"Isn't that a bit drastic?"

"No. Sirius I was as poor as they came in Hogwarts and even I had more changes of clothes than her."

"Maybe it's a muggle thing."

"Your forgetting something."

"What?" Sirius pushed his way past a flock of businessmen and glared onwards.

"Hermione isn't a muggle. She's a witch. Those policies and rules don't apply to her any longer. Officially speaking she's a ward of the school and as such it is their concern that she is clothed and fed properly."

"All right. You win Moony."

Remus grinned.

"On a completely unrelated subject...Why haven't you proposed to Amelia yet?"

"I haven't found the right moment."

"Uh huh. Sirius, you've been dating for nearly ten years. She'll be thirty-nine next summer. For the love of Merlin, would you do it already?"

"Do you think it'll bother him?"

"Who?"

Sirius wrung his hands slightly.

"Harry."

"Amelia has been a mother to Harry all his life. If I remember correctly you spent your first date standing around his cot making faces at him. He loves both Amy and Susan. Stop using your son as an excuse."

Sirius glared dramatically at him. "One day Moony you will fall in love. And I will never let you forget it."

Remus gave him a very flat look. 

"Do you want to start that argument again?" He demanded. Sirius had the decency to look ashamed. 

"I do not."

* * *

Hermione arrived back at Hogwarts in a much better state than she'd left. It felt nice to have someone else know and understand the bond she had with the twins. Well perhaps not understand but be sympathetic. Sirius had provided her with a book on the matter which she intended to read at the earliest opportunity. As well as that someone and Hermione strongly suspected Filly, had re-hemmed all of her dresses and patched the holes. The work was so well done that Hermione wouldn't have noticed the patches had she not remembered the holes being there in the first place. Still, it was good to be back at school. Now they knew the enchanted hair gel worked, Fred had placed it in the Slytherin bathrooms the instant they got back to school. Although he refused to tell anyone how he got into the Slytherin Dungeons. Draco Malfoy had fallen for it five times before working it out, sporting hairstyles of various colours and daftness. The recipe was gleefully added to the Twin's book of successful pranks.

The school was buzzing with gossip when they returned. The gamekeeper's hut had burned down and there was now a loose dragon in the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid could often be seen wandering the grounds with a bucket of meat and a teddy bear shouting for the dragon he had named, for reasons known only to himself, "Norbert". Norbert had managed to enrage the centaurs who resided in the forest. According to the Patil twins, a group of "gorgeous" centaurs had made their way up to the castle to appeal with the Headmaster. Apparently a group Romanian Dragon Tamers were flying over at Dumbledore's request to deal with it, including Charlie Weasley.

Tonight, however, was Monday and the first of Hermione's week of detentions. She stood outside the thick oak door, tapping her fingers nervously against her wand, which emitted green sparks at rhythmic intervals.

"Come in Miss Granger."

Damn. How had she known?

Reluctantly Hermione pushed the door open and stepped into the quiet office. Professor McGonagall sat imperiously behind her large desk and watched the young girl. She had to admit she'd been worried when she'd received her letter from Remus.

"Professor."

Minerva gestured to the seat in front of the desk.

"Have a seat."

Hermione perched on the edge of the chair and regarded her with large brown eyes. There wasn't any anger or fear in those eyes. Just quiet determination.

"Why did you leave school without informing a member of staff or asking permission?"

"Honestly Professor, I didn't think anyone would notice I was gone. Had Professor Flitwick not been looking for me you wouldn't have found out at all. The security arrangements are extremely lacking in this school."

Minerva dragged in a shocked gasp. Then one corner of those pursed lips twitched slightly and Minerva McGonagall burst into peals of laughter. Hermione watched her professor chuckle for several minutes before she regained her composure.

"You may have a point there. We will have to review protocol if one first year can slip through on her own. Even if she is friends with the Weasley twins."

"Please don't Professor. It'll make it harder the next time I want to leave."

"Why did you not ask for permission?"

"I believed that Professor Dumbledore would not allow me to leave without accompanying me to Mister Black's residence."

"Well done for saying residence instead of house or cottage or manse. Stops anyone picking up on things...unintentionally."

Those brown eyes widened slightly.

"I'm surprised you picked up on that."

"In future, simply inform me of your intentions for holidays and that should be sufficient. I can understand your reluctance to deal with the Headmaster. You are a very loyal friend to Mr Black."

"Professor do you ever get the feeling your talking to someone about a secret, which you believe they are aware of but you yourself are unwilling to reveal the actual secret?"

Minerva smiled. "Miss Granger I find myself in that situation with increasing regularity."

"Interesting phenomenon isn't it?"

"Very."

There was a pause where both witches tried to hide their smiles. Minerva held out a tin.

"Have a biscuit Granger."

"Thank you." Hermione ate her digestive quietly and glanced around the room. "What exactly will I be doing for my detentions?"

"Oh various things."

Hermione frowned slightly. In her, truthfully limited, experience, this was not how detentions were supposed to go.

"So tell me about home?"

Taken aback by the sudden change in topic, Hermione blinked and then scowled.

"Who wrote to you?" She asked, voice deadpanned.

"What?" Carefully constructed puzzlement coloured the teachers voice.

"Who wrote to you?"

"Remus Lupin."

Hermione growled slightly and leaned back, somewhat ungracefully, in her chair.

"And I was starting to like him too. Very well Professor. Ask your questions."

"Is it true that you don't have many changes of clothes?"

"I have several dresses which are my uniform from London, one pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a jumper knitted by Mrs Weasley and several sets of underwear which I do not wish to discuss."

"Is that it?"

Hermione nodded. "There's a lot of us back home, it is impossible for them to clothes us all. So the uniforms make it easier and they get washed frequently."

"Very well. How did you pay for your school equipment?"

"I used money. How do you pay for things?" The expression of innocent puzzlement was not lost on McGonagall.

"Miss Granger."

Hermione chuckled slightly.

"I used my own money which I had collected by myself and exchanged it at Gringotts."

"Did Professor Dumbledore not tell you about the fund for orphans?"

"I was not aware of it until now Professor. It makes sense for such a thing to exist. If I would be able to make use of it this summer I would be most grateful. I will not have had the time to collect enough money for new books."

"Collect?"

"Mmm."

Minerva recognised where she wasn't going to get anywhere and changed the subject.

"I believe that is enough. But will you tell me about yourself? And your parents?"

Hermione looked at the teacher and stared into the eyes framed by spectacles.

"Very well..."

* * *

_And Hermione talked. She told her about her parents and their lives as dentists. Their home, birthdays, the orphanage, how she missed her books. And McGonagall listened, asking questions where appropriate and sharing her own stories. When the three hours were over and Hermione had been sent back to Gryffindor Tower, Minerva came and found me in my office. She sat down and smiled at me and said,_

" _Filius I believe I am very lucky today. Miss Granger possesses all the talents I would wish my own daughter to have. She's forthright, intelligent, loyal, brave, devious, rather funny, I almost wish I could..."_

_She broke off at this point and gazed into the fire. To this day she has never told me what it was she was considering. But whatever it was, it brought a smile to my friends face and for that I am grateful._

* * *

Well, detention had certainly been enlightening. Albeit slightly fattening. Hermione brushed biscuit crumbs off her robes and slipped quietly down the hall. She paused at the entrance to the third-floor corridor. There was no one around and now seemed the best opportunity to investigate something that had been bothering her since the Sorting Ceremony in September.

Threats of death were all very well but in a school! With hundreds of students around, many of whom had powerful and rich parents? Hermione suspected that Dumbledore's warning was little more than vast exaggeration. She'd asked the Twins and Percy, who'd both told her that the corridor had been open last year and housed nothing special, save a few empty classrooms. Besides if it was really dangerous surely it would be locked and secured to such an extent that she wouldn't be able to get into the danger, whatever it was.

She pulled out her wand and regarded the wooden door. A quick Alohamora later and the door unlocked. Hermione shook her head in amazement as her jaw dropped. This was just daft. Honestly, this school contained some of the most powerful and clever teachers in the magical world and they had left a potentially corridor virtually wide open. If Hermione could get in with a basic first-year spell, what exactly was stopping the rest of the school? Obviously it couldn't be that bad.

Still, Hermione was cautious. Being friends with the twins had taught her that much at least. She cracked open the door and peered, cautiously into the room. The three giant shaggy heads, rested quietly on their paws, eyes blearily gazing around the bland room. Hermione shut the door with a quiet snick and leaned against the rough stone wall, trying to catch her breath. That was a Cerebrus, a creature of Greek Mythology. It was impossible.

_It was at this point that Hermione remembered that she was a witch, living in a school of magical beings, with a highly unusual soul bond and that she really ought to stop being surprised by things like this._

But still, it was a highly dangerous creature. And some idiot had just tied it up in a school corridor? What kind of moron thought that was a good idea? Hermione breathed deeply and searched her memory. It had been some time since she'd been interested in Greek legends. What was it the myths said? Music tames the savage beast? Something like that. A small voice whispered to her that perhaps she should go back to the dormitory. She didn't want to be killed or expelled.

She frowned. Surely it would be the other way around. Hermione rubbed her temples and sighed. She had her priorities out of order. What would the twins think? They'd never let her live it down if she went back to the common room now.

That decided it.

Quickly and quietly Hermione slipped through the unlocked doorway and closed it behind her, pressing her back to the wood, hand still wrapped around the handle. Immediately the dog focused on her, low rumbling growls coming from fanged mouths. Hermione froze in fear and just stared, wide-eyed at the creature. The large collar around its neck was metal and the chain holding it to the wall was large and heavy and stretched tight. It couldn't reach her unless it broke through the links. This calmed her slightly and Hermione held out a hand for it to sniff, stepping forward slightly. She refused to flinch as it sniffed in deeply its nose about a foot from her hand. The growling stopped and she stepped slightly closer, ignoring the part of her which was yelling for her to get out of there NOW!

The dog leaned as close as it could and drooled liberally over her hand. Hermione chuckled. It reminded her of a dog her neighbour had had.

Quietly at first, but with increasing confidence and strength she began to sing. She'd forgotten the words to the lullaby her mother had sung to her, but the words weren't important. The tune was. She leaned forward and scratched a giant ear and was immediately nudged by two other heads who were looking for attention.

"Aw." She crooned "You're just a big softy, aren't you? Bet you're bored out of your mind in here."

A loud banging came from the back as the dog wagged it's tail and hit the stone walls, much to Hermione's amusement.  
Eventually, the dog fell asleep and she left, heart still banging in her chest.  
She couldn't wait to tell the twins about the trapdoor under the dog's feet.

* * *

"Are you INSANE?" Fred shrieked at her.

Hermione sighed.

"The last time I checked...no. Why do you think it's something I should be concerned about?"

Fred's mouth twitched slightly into an unwilling smile.

"We could feel your fear through the bond. When you didn't come back after your detention we got worried. You could have found another bloody troll for all we knew."

"But instead you went into the Third Floor corridor which we've been banned from for good reason. If Dumbledore says not to go in there then even we listen to him."

George cuddled her closer and sighed, fluffing her hair slightly as he did so. Fred groaned and sat on her other side, curling up next to her.

"They were asking for someone to break in. It's not my fault."

Fred and George raised disbelieving eyebrows.

"So you just cast an unlocking charm by accident, and then fell through the door in a completely unrelated incident?"

She sniffed slightly.

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Fred. Look I'm sorry but aren't you curious?"

"About?"

Hermione's eyes blazed with curiosity.

"What's through that trapdoor?"

Fred groaned.

"Isn't it supposed to be us leading you into danger?"

"We've been a bad influence on you, little Amazon."

Hermione huffed and jumped off the desk, brushing dust off her clothes.

"I'm off to bed then."

"Speaking of which..."

"How've you been sleeping?"

She shrugged and peered around the doorway.

"I got about three hours. Not bad really. Night Cassy and Polly."

A long freckled arm reached out and dragged her back into the room to stand in front of them.

"Cassy and Polly? That's your idea of a nickname?"

"Yeah." She scratched her nose. "Like Castor and Pollux. The Gemini twins."

George sighed.

"Keep trying Granger."

* * *

"Who would know about magical creatures?"

Percy glanced up at Hermione from his homework and frowned in thought.

"Well, I suppose the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Kettleburn. But he's in the hospital wing. An unfortunate incident with a tree dryad. If it's urgent you could ask Hagrid."

She wrinkled her nose in thought.

"The tall gentleman with the beard?"

"That's him."

"Thank you, Mr Weasley."

Percy blinked and watched in amazement as the tiny girl strode off.

"She sounds eerily like McGonagall sometimes." He mused.

* * *

"Explain to me again, why we're going to see Hagrid?"

Hermione grinned at George.

"Because you two love me and will do anything to make me happy."

"But why?"

Hermione trudged through the thick snow, that still covered the ground in late January and smiled angelically. Neither twin was fooled.

"Because I hate not knowing things. I would have thought you two would be more than happy to help me. I can always go and get Ron if you like."

Fred snorted with laughter, as George grinned weakly.

"I think for the safety of our younger brother you had better let us stay. He'd annoy you and you'd hurt him."

"Shut up Polly."

George's groan of frustration was cut off by Hermione rapping on the door of the Gamekeepers newly repaired hut with her fist. As the footsteps on the other side got closer she pushed the twins forward and slipped behind them, looking every inch the timid first year.

Hagrid pulled open the door and glanced straight over their heads before thinking to look down.

"Fred! George!" The giant pulled them into a bone-crushing hug before finally spotting Hermione.

"Who's this then?"

"This is Hermione."

"She's a first year we're corrupting."

Hermione noticed the Twins had taken to playing with their bracelets when they lied. It was a purely subconscious gesture. Hermione stared wide-eyed up at Hagrid and muttered a quiet, "Hello."

"We thought we'd bring her down to see you."

Hagrid stood aside and ushered them into his cabin.

"Might a' well stay for some tea then. Just put the pot on to brew." There was a small banging noise as he turned to grab three mugs hanging from hooks. Out of the corner of his eye, Fred saw Hermione slip her wand out of her sleeve and point it at Hagrid, muttering quietly. Before he could confront her on it, Hagrid had turned back with three steaming mugs, and one large bucket, full of tea.

"Thank you." Hermione sipped the hot liquid thoughtfully as Fred and George talked about how school had been treating them and the latest pranks they'd caused.

"Mr Hagrid?" Hermione piped up. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Don't see why not?" He smiled kindly at the girl who beamed back.

"I was wondering if you could tell me about the Cerebrus."

The bearded face brightened.

"You interested in magical creatures?" She nodded eagerly. "You two have got another Charlie here." He took a large drink from his bucket and frowned slightly.

"Well there's the obvious I suppose. They love music, very friendly most of the time but also very intelligent creatures. I was telling a friend of mine, the man who sold me, Norbert, in fact, 'bout the one I raised from a pup. I called 'im Fluffy. Lovely boy he was."

"What happened to him?"

"Oh nothin'. He's working up at the castle for Dumbledore. Guardin'. Great guard dogs they are. Almost impossible to sneak up on, unless it's a bit of a softy."

"Wow." Hermione breathed out in what she hoped would be perceived as awe. "So what's he guarding up there?"

Hagrid chuckled slightly.

"Nah. I couldn't tell you that. That's between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."

"Ah. So tell me more about Norbert. I find the process of dragon rearing fascinating. What sort of brandy did you use?"

* * *

It was half-past nine by the time they escaped. Dodging the prefects on patrol, they arrived back at the crowded Common Room, Hermione grinning smugly the whole way. The Twins didn't even pause, just grabbed an arm each and dragged her up to their dorm room. Lee was still downstairs, trying to impress Alicia and Fred locked the door behind them to prevent any other interruptions.

"I really hope you have a good reason for making us listen to Hagrid ramble on about dragons for the last hour."

Hermione frowned in confusion

"Dragons are fascinating. Weren't you enjoying yourselves?"

"Hermione?"

"Yes George?"

"What exactly was that about?"

"And what was with the nifty spell work?"

Hermione sighed and leaned forward on Fred's bed, cuddling the pillow.

"I needed to know what possible reason someone could have for storing a vicious creature in a school full of magical children. And before you say anything, yes I needed to know. I can't stand unsolved mysteries. So I asked Perfect Percy who would be best to ask and he told me to go to Hagrid. So I did."

"And the spell?" Asked Fred.

She shrugged delicately.

"Simple babbling hex. I estimated that given Hagrid's large size and that I am a tiny, little, insignificant and innocent first year," Both Twins snorted. "The spell would only make him slightly more talkative."

"You are terrifyingly devious sometimes."

"And you needed us there why?"

"It would have looked strange if a previously unknown first year was to introduce herself and ask about three-headed dogs. You two were my cover."

George groaned.

"Remind me why we're friends with you again?"

She waved her hands at him and widened her eyes comically.

"We are fated to be the best of friends for forever and ever. And be followed around by rainbows and kittens and toffee." She sobered slightly. "Anyway, at least we know what the dog is doing there."

"We do?"

Hermione scowled.

"Don't you two ever listen? Yes, we do. The dog is obviously guarding something. The key to which is Nicholas Flamel."

Twin expressions of confusion looked up at her.

"Who is that?"

"I have no idea."

* * *

_Dear Mr R Lupin,_

_Whilst I appreciate your concern and worry for my person, I feel it is necessary to inform you personally of several facts regarding my well being._

_1\. I am not mistreated at my current lodgings._

_2\. Hogwarts School, whilst legally being my guardian, is not responsible for my wellfare outside of the school. Any concerns you may have should go, in future, either to myself or to my head care worker. Never should you bring me up to the attention of the school board. I am unsure as to whether or not you are aware of the procedure for muggleborns, found in lacking homes. When the school is made aware of it the Ministry will remove the child from their previous home, obliviate their guardians and place them for adoption inside the wizarding community. This is wrong Mr Lupin. I have no wish to be taken from my current home, nor lose access to the world I grew up in. In this instance, we can only be thankful that Professor McGonagall chose to bring these matters up with me._

_3\. I feel that this is the most important fact of all._

_**None** of the above is your business. Whilst I am grateful for your hospitality over the Christmas break, it does not give you a right to interfere in my life. I am perfectly capable of looking after myself._

_Please in future refrain from meddling in that which does not concern you._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Hermione J Granger_

_(Letter donated to this publication by R Lupin )_


	10. Nicholas Flamel

"Black?"

"Granger?"

"Come with me."

Hermione shut the door of the abandoned classroom as Harry rubbed his arm, scowling at her from underneath his fringe.

"Where'd you get so bloody strong?"

"I spend two nights a week throwing things. It helps build up muscle. Besides you're kinda scrawny."

Harry bristled.

"I'm not scrawny, I'm just slim. Seekers need to be fast you know."

"Uh-huh."

"Anyway, why did you drag me in here? Sirius warned me about girls like you, you know. Aren't you a bit young for snogging in cupboards?" Harry teased, eyes sparkling.

"What? Oh, shut up Harry. Anyway..." Hermione raked a hand through her hair charging the curls with static. "I'm a year older than you."

She paused and frowned.

"And this is a classroom."

Harry just grinned unrepentantly and hugged her tightly. Hermione froze for a second before returning the gesture.

"How have you been?" He murmured, resting his head on her shoulder. "We've hardly seen you in the last few months."

"I'm fine Harry, just listen..."

Harry held her at arm's length and looked her over, scowling slightly.

"You've become a library hermit. You almost live there. The Twins have been going spare. They can't go in there until Madam Pince releases them from their ban..."

"Harry?"

"And I can just tell they're dying to drag you out of there and force you to go to meals." Harry frowned and glared at her. "You have been eating right?"

"Yes. Harry..."

"Not enough by the look of you. If it wasn't for Quidditch I don't think you'd leave the castle."

"Harry!"

"Fred and George have been doing my nut in. You've barely been focusing in classes."

"My marks are still higher than yours. But Harry if you'll just listen to me..."

"And don't get me started on how late you stay up..."

"HARRY!"

A pair of considerably unimpressed emerald eyes stared at her.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"You're impossible. If you'll just be quiet for a moment I've got something important to tell you."

"It can't be that important if you're wasting this much time in telling me. Come on just spit it out."

"I'm wasting time?" Hermione parroted indignantly. "It's you being this stu..."

Harry covered her mouth with his hand. Her hair began to spark and somehow he got zapped with static electricity. Harry jerked his hand back as Hermione grinned innocently.

"How did you do that?" He asked nursing his fingers.

"No idea."

"But...?"

"Now whose time wasting." Harry stuck his tongue out at her and she rolled her eyes. "Anyway as I was trying to ask you. Do you know what day it is on Saturday?"

"Yes," Harry said decisively.

"What?"

"Saturday."

Hermione rubbed her temples.

"Idiots. I am surrounded by idiots."

Harry chuckled and dragged her over to a bench by the wall.

"It's okay Twist. Saturday is the first of April."

Hermione breathed through her nose and seemed to gather her patience.

"Yes. April Fool's day. Otherwise known as..."

"The Weasley Twins Birthday."

Hermione made fireworks shoot from her wand tip.

"Finally, he gets it."

"No need to be sarcastic."

"I thoroughly disagree."

"Maybe this is why Snape likes you so much. Your vicious sense of humour."

"Focus Black."

"Sorry. So what's the plan?"

"Lee's throwing a party in the common room. We're helping."

Harry smiled slightly.

"Translation: Hermione's throwing a party and Lee's doing what he's told. Ow!"

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, I'm in."

"Good. So I need you to..."

* * *

_April Fools day is traditionally a muggle holiday, similar to Valentine's day which wizards had also adopted. For many years the first of April was a normal teaching day for the staff at Hogwarts and this remained so until the arrival of the Marauders. After seven years they left and the castle relaxed around the muggle day of pranking. This lasted until the arrival of Fred and George Weasley, who on their 12th birthday managed to steal the hats from all members of staff and somehow fitted them to the top of the chandeliers in the entrance hall. Needless to say, that was the tamest of their pranks. When Miss Granger arrived things only got worse._

* * *

"You two sure about this one?" Hermione whispered as they crouched behind a tapestry of a centaur next to the entrance to the dungeons. "He'll kill you."  
Fred shrugged.

"He's wanted to do that since first year. Don't worry Amazon."

Hermione snorted.

"Don't mistake contempt for your idiocy for actually worry. I'll leave that to Oliver. He'll be heartbroken if he loses you two."

George chuckled quietly.

"You're such a _nice_ person Hermione."

"Red haired buffoon." She shot back.

"Quiet!" Fred hissed. He, Hermione and George peered around the tapestry, watching as Professor Snape advanced down the corridor, black robes billowing behind him.

"On three?" George murmured.

Hermione and Fred nodded quietly. Snape drew level with the tapestry and as one they fired three different hexes. Snape stiffened as the magic hit him, but they didn't wait to see if he turned to investigate. As soon as they were sure the spells had reached their target, they sped off down the secret corridor.

Hermione and the Twins made sure they had a good seat for that evening's dinner. Harry, unusually, sat beside Hermione with the twins on either side of them.

"So explain it to me again?"

Hermione sighed and gestured to Fred to take up the explanation.

"Well, it's like this. We've been wanting to pull a prank on Snape for years but we lacked the manpower..."

"And intelligence," Hermione muttered. Fred rolled his eyes and ignored her.

"So we figured after what happened with the troll we could probably combine spells and increase the potency of them if we, George, Hermione and myself, cast at the same time. So we practised."

Harry chuckled.

"Which explains why Malfoy was sporting some very interesting boils."

George grinned.

" A perfect cocktail of colouring and swelling charm added to a boiling hex. A thing of beauty."

"Malfoy's face made me want to vomit."

"Yes well, our art isn't to everyone's tastes."

Hermione rolled her eyes and nodded towards the teacher's table.

"Timing charms about to wear off." She muttered.

Professor Snape was leaning back in his chair, glaring at his portion of chicken stew as though it had caused him personal offence.

Hermione began to count down, one eye fixed on the nearest watch.

"Five, four..."

"Three.." muttered Fred gleefully.

"Two..." added George.

The last of their countdown was lost in the chaos as Professor Snape was engulfed in pink smoke, emitting a loud squeak of surprise. The Hall burst into laughter as the teachers desperately tried to evade the fumes.

"And that would be the fabric charm." Fred murmured.

The smoke cleared revealing Snape, dressed in sunshine yellow robes, embroidered with flowers. He had a large cone perched on his head, like the sort medieval princesses were supposed to wear. It had streamers coming from the top.

They were pink.

Harry snorted with laughter, as certain members of staff, namely McGonagall, tried to stifle their giggles. The rest of the students had no such problem. Howling laughter burst out from three tables, along with no small amount of applause.

Harry frowned suddenly.

"I only count two spells. Timing and Fabric. What's the third?"

"Wait for it." Hermione muttered.

Snape had given up his attempts to return his robes to their former prince-of-evil glory and instead turned his glare on the Great Hall. Although it's effect was marred slightly by the black eyes being framed by sparkly pink streamers, it still remained terrifying. The hall quietened down pretty quickly.

"When I find out who did this?" He growled threateningly. Or at least that was Harry's assumption because what actually came out was a high pitched voice which really should have belonged on a three year old girl. It certainly shouldn't have been loud enough to reverberate around the whole castle.

This time the laughter couldn't be stifled and even some of the Slytherins joined in, although they did try and hide the faces from their furious head of house.

"WEASLEY!" He screamed.

Fred and George assumed expressions of total innocence as the irate potions master strode over to them.

"Oh, honestly Severus." McGonagall chastised. "They were sitting on the other side of the hall. We would have seen them casting those spells. They cannot be responsible and you cannot prove that they were involved. I suggest you get yourself back to your office and change."  
Professor Snape seemed about to open his mouth to argue when he remembered the charms, and simply settled for glaring at the offending Gryffindors before he swept out of the hall. The canary yellow robes and streamers billowing behind him.

* * *

McGonagall cornered them after dinner as they were heading back to Gryffindor Tower for the party.

"Granger, Weasley, Weasley and Black. A word please." She ushered them into a nearby classroom and glared at them.

"The only reason you are not facing serious losses of house points and detentions is that you were incredibly sneaky about this but..."

"I didn't know you could lose detention?" Fred whispered in an awed tone.

"Wish we'd known that in first year."

McGonagall rolled her eyes.

"Honestly. I'd say not to let it happen again but I am aware who I'm talking to. It's like the Marauders all over again." She added rubbing her forehead. "Just go you lot."

They dutifully trudged over to the door, trying to look remorseful, which was hard because Fred was making funny faces at them.

"I do have one question though?" They paused and waited.

"Why yellow?"

"No self-respecting Gryffindor would dare use yellow as a pranking colour. It's a Hufflepuff colour."

"And you don't mess with Hufflepuff."

"Hmmm." McGonagall frowned slightly.

"Besides.." Hermione added. "Yellow goes lovely with the daffodils. Looks so much better than crimson."

McGonagall waited until she was sure they had left before chuckling quietly.

* * *

The party was in full swing. Hermione had convinced the house elves to bake a birthday cake and supply drinks and food. Lee had done the decorations, and the Common Room was festooned with ribbons and balloons, not to mention the occasional Filibuster Firework. Hermione wasn't sure how Lee had managed to get a hold of muggle helium balloons but the Twins were having an excellent time inhaling the stuff.

"Frog, Hermione?"

"What?" Hermione looked up to see Neville and adjusted her scowl to a slight smile. "Oh hi, Neville."

He held out a boxed chocolate frog to her.

"Want one?"

Hermione shrugged.

"Sure."

After ruthlessly biting the head off her frog, she slipped the card out of the packaging and scowled slightly.

_Albus Dumbledore,_

_Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragons blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling._

Hermione froze and reread it. Then without any warning, she barreled off to her dormitory, leaving the party behind her.

* * *

"I found it." Hermione grinned over the jug of orange juice.

"Brilliant." George beamed at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Nicholas Flamel."

"Oh."

"Well, technically you found him." Fred spooned some porridge into his mouth. "But let's not quibble over technicalities, little firstie."

Fred's porridge exploded, splattering his face and robes, with creamy oats.

"How do you keep doing that?" George demanded as Fred wiped his face on the table cloth.

"Doing what?"

"Accidental magic."

Hermione shrugged.

"Happens when I get annoyed."

"Yeah, but it shouldn't." Harry frowned. "You've got a wand. That usually stops it."

"Does it really matter?"

"Does if I'm going to have to keep picking breakfast out of my hair," Fred mumbled.

"Then don't annoy me. Anyway..." Hermione rummaged in her bag, before tugging out a large leather bound book. She opened it and propped it against a juice jug.

"Listen to this. _Nicholas Flamel is the only known creator of the Philosophers Stone._ " Then it goes on about his wife and him. The stone grants immortality. Flamel uses the stone to create an Elixir which has extended his life by several centuries. A normal wizard only usually lives to a hundred and fifty."

"Okay. But why has Dumbledore hidden it at Hogwarts? Wouldn't Gringotts be a better choice?"

"Well I thought about that and it's logic really. Obviously, the stone is being hidden from something which isn't worried by the security arrangements at Gringotts, but who is significantly worried by the presence of Albus Dumbledore."

George chewed thoughtfully.

"Well, that narrows it down to only a few people."

"Actually it narrows it down to one." Harry sighed.

"You-know-who."

Fred nodded.

"Anyone care to explain?" Hermione snapped, hating being left out of the loop.

"Well, it's a well-known fact. The only person Voldemort was ever scared of was Dumbledore. It's the reason Hogwarts was considered so safe."

Hermione snorted.

"That's an excellent theory but isn't Voldemort dead?" George interjected.

"Yeah," Harry added, rubbing his forehead under his fringe. "Didn't that Harry Potter bloke defeat him or something?"

"Something like that." Fred grinned.

"Why is that all people ever say?" George asked. He rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward.

"What?"

"It's always Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord failed in his attempt... yada yada. But it never says he's dead. Defeated and dead are two different things."

"I think it's just assumed, Georgie."

"No. Because Dumbledore defeated Grindlewald and all that means is that he's locked up in some prison. Where he has been for the last fifty years or so. That's what defeated means."

"So you're saying that Voldemort is alive somewhere?" Harry hissed, suddenly very pale.

"I'm saying it's possible."

Hermione moved suddenly and wrapped her arms around George, in a bone crushing hug.

"You bloody genius." She blushed slightly and released him, but continued to beam at them. "We can't talk here. C'mon let's go upstairs."

It wasn't until they were safely ensconced in the Twins dormitory that Hermione spoke again.

"Well, it makes sense now doesn't it?"

"What does?"

"The troll."

"What troll? As in our troll?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Yes Fred, our troll. What causes a better distraction than a twelve-foot mountain troll? Someone got it into the castle for a reason. What if it was to get everyone away from the third-floor corridor and Fluffy?"

"So you're saying it was one of the staff?"

Harry groaned.

"I have no idea how you came to that conclusion. I swear she's been rubbing off on you two."

Fred cast Harry an amused glance and explained.

"There is only one way to get that troll into the castle and that, my darling Harry, is through the wards." He winked at Hermione. "I'm not just a pretty face you know. Furthermore, no student could open the wards. In fact, no ordinary wizard could. They are coded to only accept manipulation by a member of staff. So that narrows down our list of suspects."

"I think we can safely rule out a few though. McGonagall and Flitwick. Definitely Professor Sprout. Woman wouldn't hurt a Vampire Mosp." George sighed at Hermione's confusion. "Wizarding term. Sorry."

"I can't really picture any of the staff members attempting to aid the return of Voldemort." Hermione tugged on her plait, causing several curls to spring free. "But then people do the strangest things."

Harry grunted.

"Well, actually that's not true." They turned to look at him in surprise. "Sirius told me before I left for Hogwarts to watch out for Professor Snape. Not only was Sirius mean to him at school but apparently he was one of Voldemorts followers. He switched sides before he was defeated though. Became Dumbledore's right-hand man."

There was a pause while they digested that.

"Yeah." Fred nodded slowly. "I can see that. The whole evil aura thing."

"But Dumbledore trusts him," George pointed out.

"Dumbledore trusts a lot of people." Hermione sighed slightly. "In fact, he trusts every member of staff. If he didn't he wouldn't employ them. But obviously he's wrong about somebody."

"Still the stone is safe right?" Hermione cocked her head to the side and watched Harry. "As long as the Headmaster is in Hogwarts, whoever it is won't make an attempt to get the stone."

Hermione nodded.

"So we wait until he's left the castle."

"Wait for what?"

"Well if Snape or whoever it is decided to go after the stone, someone will need to stop them."

"Someone being the keyword in that sentence. It doesn't need to be us. Perhaps," and here George drew in a shuddering breath as though the very idea was horrifying to him, "We should tell a member of staff about this. What could we really do to stop him anyway?"

"Anything is possible, so long as you've got enough nerve," Fred whispered, earning him a glare from his brother.

"Who would believe us?" Harry pointed out. "For one thing having you two on our side is hardly going to help. No one believes you two. And Hermione and I are just first years. No one would touch our story with Merlin's staff."

"How about this?" Hermione offered. "We wait and see. Dumbledore may stay here until the end of term and then it won't be our problem. So we wait and if, and only if, he leaves the castle, we go to the teachers."

"And if they don't believe us?"

"Well, I always thought that writing certain death on something was just asking for them to break in. Don't you?"

* * *

_Apparently the following months were filled with tension for our group of friends. Under Hermione's insistence (and several strongly worded letters from Molly Weasley), they threw themselves into their end of term exams. It was with some relief that Professor Dumbledore didn't leave the castle until June was upon them and their exams were the only thing on their minds._

* * *

Hermione cracked her neck to work out the kinks she'd acquired in her transfiguration exam. Before long Fred and George appeared at her elbows, both grinning with relief.

"I'm glad that's over." Fred grinned. "How'd you do little know-it-all?"

"Doesn't really matter." Hermione led them into lunch and nabbed a copy of the Daily Prophet which had been lying on the table.

"Doesn't it?"

"Good grades don't stop you from being a freak." She muttered.

"Hmmm. Wait. What?"

"Nothing. Here look at this." Hermione spread the paper out in front of them and scowled.

The section in question was in the middle of the paper, under the heading of Ministry Affairs.

_Wizengamot Meeting Tonight!_

_The Wizengamot of Great Britain will be in session today from 4 pm until late. It should be noted that all members must attend and failure to do so will in a fine._

_The agenda for this evening includes;_

_-The placement for the Quidditch World Cup Stadium_

_-Goblin Restriction Laws_

_-Minuets of the last meeting_

As one they turned and looked at the teacher's table. The large carved throne-like chair was empty, it's usual occupant obviously missing.


	11. A Year in a Day

"And you were in bed the whole night?"

Dumbledore's bright blue eyes twinkled at them. Hermione didn't have to feign exhaustion as an excuse to close her own. Every bone in her body ached and her head pounded. Even the comforting presence of the Twins wasn't enough to calm her properly. They had only just managed to their alibi straight and Hermione back to her own bed before being summoned to the Headmaster's Office.

"Professor Dumbledore!" McGonagall looked furious. Hermione wasn't sure at whom though. "Miss Granger and Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley have nothing more to tell you. I'm sure you aren't suggesting that they broke into the third-floor corridor by themselves. A feat you _assured_ me at the start of the term would be impossible for any of our students. Besides Miss Granger had nothing to do with Mr Black's incident, seeing as she was in the girl's dormitory at the time and had to be woken up to come and see you. I don't see why her presence is necessary. Or why this is isn't a matter for their Head of House." She glared at them. "I think you three should leave. Get some breakfast. We've got a match to win. _If_ Mr Black wakes up in time."

Silently they filed out and down the spiral staircase.

"Did anyone else get the feeling that we were being scolded and congratulated at the same time?" Fred asked.

"I couldn't agree with you more, brother."

"We should go and visit Harry." Hermione pointed out, leaning against George's arm.

George winced.

"Yeah." He muttered, ruffling his hair. "I feel kinda guilty about that."

"It worked, didn't it?" Hermione pointed out as they changed course to the Hospital Wing.

They wandered through the corridors ignoring the curious stares of the other pupils. Most were wondering how Harry Black had landed himself in the Hospital Wing, especially at eight in the morning, two days before the Quidditch final.

Still, they got to the Hospital wing unimpeded. They didn't notice the man sitting by Harry's bed at first. He had his head resting on his forearms and was completely silent.

"Hey, Harry," Fred called.

"He is unconscious," Hermione muttered. "You know that?"

"Doesn't mean he can't hear us." George pointed out.

"Would someone like to explain why you felt it was necessary to hit my son in the head with a beater's bat?"

All three froze comically, before turning to look at the incredibly irritated face of Sirius Black, sitting at the end of the bed. None of them had noticed her was there.

Hermione swallowed, nervously.

"Well..." Fred started.

"You see..."

Hermione cut across both of them.

"Mr Black, we can't tell you here." She whispered urgently.

Sirius frowned and began muttering under his breath, flicking his wand as he walked the perimeter of the bed.

"How's that?"

"What did you do?" She asked.

"Wards. Now tell me."

Hermione rested her head against George's shoulder and sighed.

"We did something stupid."

"It wasn't stupid," Fred muttered, wrapping an arm around her.

"We had our reasons," George added.

"We went to the third-floor corridor..."

"We thought that Snape was going to steal the Philosophers Stone..."

"So we..."

"Harry, Hermione, Fred and I..."

"Thought we'd try and steal it first..."

"Only it wasn't Snape, it was Quirrel..."

"And we got stuck on one side of the fire and Harry got stuck on the other..."

"And there was monologuing..."

"And Quirrel took his turban off and he had Voldemort on the back of his head..."

"Which was completely disgusting..."

"And he tried to take to stone from Harry.."

"But whenever Harry touched him, his skin burned...

"So Harry put his hand over his face...

"Quirrell's that is..."

"He just broke into dust..."

"And then Voldemort was a spirit and he rushed through Harry, which is why he collapsed..."

"So we levitated Harry over the flames..."

"Fred did, anyway...

"And then we brought him back to the dormitories and waited for him to wake up."

"We didn't want to go to Dumbledore in case it was a Boy-Who-Lived thing..."

"But he wouldn't wake up..."

"And he needed to go to the Hospital Wing..."

"So we hit him over the head with a beater's bat and told Madam Pomfrey, he'd tried to wake up Fred this morning and he'd hit him by accident."

Sirius blinked.

"What?" He managed weakly.

"Ask Harry when he wakes up."

"We're sorry for hitting him."

"No, no don't be. You did the best you could." Sirius shook himself. "I appreciate you hiding this from Dumbledore. Although I'm too tired to yell at you for being so astronomically stupid as to go down there. You could have died! Harry could have been found out!"

All three hung their heads. Hearing Sirius yell was almost as bad as Molly.

"However, I can't say I don't understand. Merlin knows I would have done the same." He added grumpily.

"Do you know what it was?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"What?"

"That allowed Harry to hurt Quirell?" Hermione was unwilling to use the word "kill". Just in case Harry could hear her.

Sirius paused, eyes drifting over his godson.

"I have an idea. If anyone could have done it, it would have been Lily." Sirius frowned. "I'll need to look some things up first. Hadn't you three be better getting to class?"

"Term finished."

"Still, go outside. Get some sunshine. You look dreadful."

Sensing that they were being effectively dismissed, they said their goodbyes and made their way outside to sit under their favourite beech tree, curling up together in the early June sunlight.

"Do you two know what it could have been?" She asked, twisting tufts of grass between her fingers. Fred shrugged.

"There are whole sections of magic which aren't taught at Hogwarts. It could have been anything, luck even."

George sighed, tugging on one of her curls. Her hair slipped loose of her rough braid and the whole mess floated into a fluffy cloud around her head.

"Right now I don't even care. I'm exhausted."

They all were.

They'd gotten back to their dormitories extremely late, but sleep hadn't been an option. Fred had practised the few cleaning charms he knew to try and reduce their clothes from war-torn to merely filthy. They'd each had to shower to remove the layers of dirt and dust. Hermione's hair had been burnt from where she'd tried to leap after Harry, only just saved by Fred and George grabbing her. It had had to be cut out, leaving her with a slightly uneven haircut. She'd braided it back to avoid notice, but the shorter lengths refused to cooperate. Her fingertips were burned as well, but there was nothing to be done about that. George had a large cut across his upper arm, where a winged key had gotten too close and sliced through his jumper. They'd bound it with a strip of cloth torn from a bedsheet, after cleaning to the best of their abilities. Luckily it was easily hidden under his school robes. As well as that, all this had to be achieved in utter silence as Lee was still asleep behind his bed curtains.

"Do you remember when we had normal years at Hogwarts?" George asked rhetorically.

* * *

_Harry did eventually wake up, luckily before the end of the term. He, Hermione, the Twins and Susan Bones all shared a compartment back to the muggle world. To this day Hermione isn't sure how they even managed to get so far into the mystery of the third-floor corridor. Let alone how they managed to escape. Whilst Dumbledore most certainly suspected something, he had no proof. There was little he could do, especially with the ire of Sirius Black panting down his neck. Fred and George returned to the Burrow, Harry and Susan to the home of the now engaged Sirius Black and Hermione picked up her trunk and walked across London to Lambeth Orphanage._

* * *

The orphanage hadn't changed as far as Hermione could tell. Still full to bursting with children who'd rather be anywhere but there. There was only one slight difference. There had been a sudden influx after Christmas (there always was) of children, who had filled the remaining beds, including Hermione's. The social worker's eyes had widened almost comically when she'd opened the door to find the girl, complete with school trunk, standing on the doorstep. She'd explained the situation apologetically and Hermione understood.

She really did. She was only there for seven weeks of the year now so she didn't get priority. If a bed opened up then she'd get one but for now she would have to make do with the sofa.

She didn't get any letters from friends that summer, having impressed upon the Twins and Harry how odd it would be for an orphanage full of muggles to see owls coming and going all night. As it was she was having to keep her trunk locked tight to stop nosy blighters discovering her school books.

So July passed slowly with Hermione spending most of it reading through the collection of the local library (access had been an apology for being forgotten about) under the large oak tree in the garden. It was a hot summer and the other children were more interested in being outside than in bothering the strange girl.

Professor McGonagall's visit came as something of a surprise to Hermione. What with the excitement at the end of term, she'd forgotten about the Orphans Fund or the professor's promise.

* * *

Minerva cast a bemused glance around the front garden of the Orphanage. The garden bore all the signs of housing a large number of children. Crushed flowers, chalk drawings and if she wasn't mistaken, thirteen balls stuck in various high places. Stepping over a fallen scooter she rapped smartly on the front door. Tugging slightly at the unusual tweed muggle suit she was forced to wear, she glanced up in time to see the front door opened by a small child. A pair of curious blue eyes stared up at her.

"Hello."

"'ello." The door swung wider open as a large woman, complete with apron and wooden spoon jogged down the hallway.

"Tommy if I've told you once I've told you a thousand times..." She scolded.

"Don't open the door to strangers." The boy dutifully recited. The woman waited until he'd vanished through a doorway and turned back to Minerva.

"Sorry about that. It's chaos around here at the moment. How can I help you?"

"I'm here about one of your children."

The woman laughed.

"Take your pick. We're full up. Which one in particular?"

"Hermione Granger."

The woman's face fell.

"Ah. Well, you'd better come inside. You're not from the council, are you? I'll need to see some ID as well."

Stepping neatly into the hallway Minerva glanced around, smiling at the walls which were covered in children's artwork.

"No no. I'm from Hermione's school. I'm the Depute Headmistress, Professor McGonagall." She produced the glossy parchment Dumbledore provided her with for just this process.

"Ah. I'm Sally. Head care worker. We were very surprised when Hermione got accepted to that school. Didn't think her grandmother had it in her to pay for private tuition." Sally led the way down the corridor, nudging toys out the way with her foot as she went.

"If Miss Granger has a grandmother...?"

"Why is she here?"Sally paused outside the door marked "Library". "Well I wasn't in charge at the time, only a junior social worker myself, I only got the job this Christmas, but I can remember the chaos. This old woman comes barging in here, middle of the night too, wakes all the kids, screaming that her granddaughter is a freak and she wants nothing to do with her. Poor Hermione was left here, barely a week after her parents murder. Nasty business it was."

"Murder!" repeated McGonagall, startled.

"I can hear you, you know." A voice murmured.

Sally winced and called through the door.

"I know you can dear." She turned back to McGonagall. "Unfortunately Hermione has been the victim of a room shortage, and as the children refuse to share with her, we've put her in here for the summer." She twisted the doorknob and crossed the thresh hold, giving Minerva no choice but to follow.

The Library didn't actually have much in the way of books in it, although there was a large pile of what Minerva suspected were electronics in one corner. The curtains were drawn, so most of the room was in shadow, but with her cat's eyes Minerva could make out the occasional sofa and carpet.

"Hermione?" Sally called into the gloom "Professor McGonagall is here from your school."

"What?" There was a shuffling sound and then Hermione stepped into view, clad in flannel pyjamas and what looked like a Weasley jumper, which was two sizes too big, with a large F embroidered on the front.

"What're you doing here?" She paused and rubbed at her eyes. "Professor." She added as an afterthought. Sally, apparently satisfied that Hermione knew the stranger, left the room.

"We need to buy your school supplies. I told you I'd be able to help you purchase books and the like." Minerva frowned at the girl. "Miss Granger, are you feeling okay?"

Despite the tan, Hermione was once again as thin as a rake and her eyes had large bags beneath them, giving her a somewhat alien look.

"'m fine Professor. Just not sleeping well without Fred and George." Hermione froze and glanced guiltily at her. "Err..."

"I'll just pretend I didn't hear that Miss Granger." Minerva frowned thoughtfully as she glanced around the room. "I need to talk to the woman in charge of this...establishment. Please be ready to leave in five minutes."

And she strode from the room.

Hermione frowned. Blinked twice and shrugged. At least it was something interesting to do. She dressed quickly and shut her trunk, safely storing her pyjamas in her trunk and changing her jumper for her Quidditch jersey. It wouldn't look out of place on Diagon Ally.

Professor McGonagall returned, clutching a large sheaf of papers in one hand. "Is that your trunk?"  
she asked.

"Yes."

"Is it packed?"

"Yes." Hermione frowned slightly. "I thought we were just going to buy school supplies."

"Slight change of plans," Minerva muttered. She shrunk the school trunk and tucked it safely into her jacket pocket. Hermione followed her out into the hall and was shocked to find Sally handing a slip of paper to McGonagall.

"That's the last registered address we have for her. Vicious old cow." She added, scowling slightly. The social worker turned to Hermione and knelt down so she was on eye level with her. "Hermione, I am sorry that your stay here hasn't been the greatest. I hope that you have the best of luck in your life."

Hermione frowned slightly, only just managing to hide her confusion.

"Okay..."

Sally grinned at her and held out a large Tupperware box, which was warm to the touch.

"I know that the other kids usually scoff these before you get to them, so this batch is for you. Oh and one more thing." Reaching into the pocket of her apron, she withdrew a key on a chain, with a small paper tag stuck to it. "Technically speaking you aren't supposed to receive this until your sixteenth birthday. We only have this key because the police would lose it and the lawyers couldn't be bothered. It's been kept in your folder since you arrived."

"What is it?"

"The key to the storage locker which was rented on your behalf. The Will stated that everything went to you, so your grandmother hasn't been able to touch it. Everything should still be in there."

Hermione's eyes went wide and she accepted the key almost reverently.

"Thank you." She whispered, tucking the chain beneath her jumper.

"You're very welcome." Sally grinned again and got to her feet, somewhat stiffly. "Now you take care okay?"

Hermione nodded and clutching her box close to her, followed Professor McGonagall out of the door.

"I'm not going back." She asked after they had walked for five minutes. "Am I?"

"Not if I can help it." was the reply. "Technically speaking you are a ward of the school, although your grandmother complicates things."

"She's no family of mine," Hermione muttered, cracking open one corner of the box. "Ooh, brownies. She was right. I never get any of these." Hermione replaced the lid and tucked the box under her arm.

"Miss Granger, what do you know of magical adoption?"

"Requires two surrogate parents. Done in extenuating circumstances." She glanced shrewdly at the teacher. "Why?"

"It is obvious that you are going to need someone to look after you. I need to make a few owls first." They stopped in front of the Leaky Cauldron. "You don't mind if we stop by the Post Office do you?"

"Of course not Professor."

Minerva nodded, pushing open the door and ushering her into the crowded pub.

"I think it would be appropriate, considering the circumstances, that you call me Minerva."

Hermione blinked but nodded following her into the magical world.

* * *

_It was a long time before Miss Granger realised that there was no way any respectable social worker would let a stranger walk off with a child in their care. Whatever it was Minerva did, I have never been able to get out of her. I imagine that it was like all of Minerva's work...impeccable and impossible to fault. It worked out for the best in the end._

* * *

The shopping was complete and sighing in relief Hermione and Minerva collapsed into a table outside Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Who are we waiting for?" Hermione asked, gesturing to the spare seat.

"You'll see."

Florean himself delivered a pair of large sundaes to their table. Apparently Minerva had taught his daughter.

Hermione paused, licking her spoon.

"Are ice-creams an official expense of Hogwarts school supplies?" She asked innocently.

"What Professor Dumbledore doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides Hermione, you are the only student making a withdrawal from the account this year. You may as well make the most of it. Ah."

A very harried-looking Sirius Black was striding down the cobbled street towards them. Whilst the velvet waistcoat and pinstriped suit could have passed for wizards attire, the large black sunglasses certainly didn't.

Minerva sniffed in disapproval as he dropped into the spare seat, crossing his legs and burying his head in his hand.

"Black, are you hungover?" She demanded loudly.

Sirius, very visibly, winced.

"No Professor." He muttered, sounding every inch the recalcitrant teenager. He grinned at Hermione. "Hey, Twist. Fancy meeting you here."

"Hello, Sirius." Hermione took care to keep her voice down, not wanting to draw attention to them. Although Sirius seemed to manage that enough by himself. There was a loud crash as a stack of cauldrons outside a nearby apothecary, tipped to the floor, clanging against each and every cobblestone. Sirius groaned and clapped his hands over his ears, his face turning slightly green.

"I'll take that as a yes," McGonagall muttered.

"Moony and I were out celebrating last night." He pouted at the Transfiguration Professor. "I've gotten old, Minnie."

"You're thirty-three Black. Hardly old. Still get yourself a coffee, because I need you sober."

"Is Harry all right?" Hermione asked as the waiter brought over a very large, very black coffee.

"He's fine. Little git woke me up this morning. Crack of dawn." He moaned, pouring an obscene amount of sugar into his coffee. "Knew I'd been drinking. Moony blames genetics. Kid's just like his father."

"Yes well, James always did love to annoy."

Sirius froze halfway through taking his first sip and coffee dribbled down his front.

"Have a napkin. Honestly Black you haven't been able to pull one over me since your second year when you framed the Prewitt twins. Besides, he may look just like you but he's got Lily's eyes. I'm surprised Severus hasn't noticed, let alone Albus."

"Professor Snape?" Hermione asked.

Sirius and Minerva both shot glances at her.

"Changing the subject," Sirius murmured. "Why did you drag me out here at the ungodly hour of..."

"One in the afternoon." Hermione supplied helpfully.

"Thank you. Because I'd much rather be in bed."

Minerva frowned but nodded.

"Very well. I need your help."

"With what?" he asked cautiously.

"Hermione's current living situation is ridiculous and untenable."

"It wasn't that bad," Hermione muttered.

"As her Head of House it is my responsibility to look after the students in my care. I have removed her from her orphanage."

"Without asking," Hermione added.

"However Albus requires my assistance occasionally and I do not, as such, have a permanent address which is suitable for the habitation of a child."

"Small words Minnie." Sirius hissed, rubbing his temples.

"She's asking if I can stay at your place for the rest of the summer," Hermione said bluntly, removing a brownie from the box on her lap. "Cake?" she asked.

Sirius frowned eyeing the pair of them.

"Yes."

"Yes to what Black?"

"Cake."

He chewed thoughtfully.

"Why not the Weasleys?"

"Molly has more than enough children to worry about. Besides, Hermione knows you and can be trusted to keep any and all secrets. I can pay you a small sum for her upkeep." she offered.

"I'm not a sheep." Hermione pointed out.

"Don't bother. We don't need the money. Harry will be happy for the company. It's just him and Susan a lot of the time." He frowned. "What are you doing?"

Hermione, who had been waving her hand in front of her eyes, paused.

"I was checking to see if I had become invisible."

"Why?"

"Because it was either that or apparently my opinion doesn't matter."

Both adults had the grace to look sheepish.

"Sorry, Hermione. Would you like to stay at my house for the rest of the summer?"

"That would be perfectly acceptable." She said, nibbling delicately at her brownie.

Sirius snorted in amusement.

"Sometimes I forget you're Bonded with the twins."

"SIRIUS!" Minerva whispered loudly, glancing around to check if anyone had noticed. Nobody had, luckily, but Sirius flushed guiltily.

"Damn. Amy really shouldn't let me leave the house like this. I just not responsible enough."

"Obviously." Minerva checked her pocket watch. "I need to be off soon. The new Defence Against the Dark Art's teacher is moving in today."

"Gilderoy Lockhart." Sirius read with disgust, picking the book out whilst going through Hermione's book bag. "Which idiot employed that pompous moron?"

"He was the only applicant." Minerva ground out, looking faintly nauseous.

"Ah." Sirius dropped the book like it disgusted him. The large photograph of, presumably Gilderoy Lockhart, on the front cover scowled at him before beginning to fix his hair.

"Got your trunk and everything?" He asked.

Minerva handed over Hermione's luggage.

"I'll see you at school Hermione." She shot a withering glare at Sirius. "Try to stay out of trouble Black. I expect her to be in one piece come September."

Hermione watched her leave, striding confidently down the street as Sirius poked through the rest of the bags.

"Honestly that woman. You know she was my Transfiguration Professor as well?" Hermione shook her head. "And Amy's. She never forgave me for that prank involving the ball of wool." He frowned at the books. "This lot can't have come cheap. Can't help but wonder how Arthur is going to manage."

"Arthur Weasley?"

Sirius gave her a long look and nodded.

"It's common knowledge that the Weasley family aren't particularly well off. What with their number of children and Arthur's job...well most people don't mention it."

Hermione frowned, thinking of the jumper she'd received at Christmas.

"I had no idea."

"School stuff is boring." He announced, changing the subject. He began shrinking the bags and tucking them in his suit pocket, along with her trunk. "Come on."

He tossed a galleon onto the table and dragged Hermione down the street.

"Where are we going?"

"Apparition point."

At her confused look, he explained.

"In Diagon, there are people milling about all the time. If you Apparated straight here you might splinch someone. So the Apparition points are supposedly safe. I say supposedly. Accidents do happen." He tugged her onto a wooden square set into the ground. "Ready?" He asked, holding tight to her forearm.

"Ready for what?"

Was the question Hermione would have asked. However just as she opened her mouth to speak she was sucked up into an invisible tube. She shut her eyes and swayed dangerously when her feet touched solid ground again.

"Er..." Sirius said, watching the now pale witch take several large steps away from him, before sinking down onto the lawn. "You do know what Apparating is don't you?"

"No." Hermione moaned.

"Ah." Sirius helped her to her feet. "It'll get better. Honest." He led her in through the front door of the now-familiar home. "HARRY!" Sirius bellowed apparently over his hangover.

"WHAT?"

"Ah good. He's upstairs." Sirius chuckled slightly and Hermione followed him up the ornate staircase, still somewhat green.

Harry was indeed upstairs. He appeared to be playing wizards chess with Susan.

And losing.

Terribly.

"I've brought you a present," Sirius called from the doorway, carefully hiding Hermione behind him.

"If it's a squid I don't want it," Harry replied, not looking up.

"I'm hardly a squid." Hermione teased, smiling slightly.

"Hey Hermione," Harry called, still focused on his chess pieces. He moved his pawn forward, ignoring the pieces protests.

Then he jumped a foot in the air.

"HERMIONE!"

"And he gets it." Sirius applauded sarcastically.

Harry hugged her around the middle and glared at his adopted father over the top of his head.

"Shut it, Sirius."

"Hello, Harry." Hermione waved at Susan. "Hey, Susan."

The red-haired girl helped Hermione disentangle Harry from herself.

"How've you been?" She asked.

Hermione hadn't had much interaction with the Hufflepuff. They spoke occasionally when the witch came to sit with Harry but were otherwise unacquainted. She hadn't expected such a warm welcome. But then again she _was_ in Hufflepuff.

"Can't complain."

Sirius spoke up again from the door.

"Hermione is staying here until school starts again. Can she stay in the room between yours?"

"Sure." Harry began shooing Sirius from the room.

"Righty ho. Never let it be said I don't know when I'm not wanted." Sirius wandered off, presumably to dump Hermione's belongings.

"What're you doing here?"

Hermione shrugged and settled on the floor to watch the rest of the match.

"Professor McGonagall came to take me shopping. Found me sleeping on the sofa and broke me out. Asked Sirius to look after me. How are you too?"

"We're good. Amelia officially moved in. Which is why Susan is here. Sirius _finally_ proposed."

"It was about time." Susan grinned. "Uncle Remus wanted to lock him in a wardrobe until he agreed to do it."

"Black's are stubborn."

"Stubborn enough to not give up." Susan teased. "Checkmate. You lose Potter."

* * *

September the first came and Hermione, Susan and Harry were delivered to a Platform Nine and Three Quarters decidedly empty of redheads. With the obvious exception of Susan of course. In fact, the Twins didn't arrive until the very last moment. Apparently they'd been running spectacularly late. They settled into a compartment just in time for the train to start moving and immediately grabbed Hermione in a hug, settling her between them. Hermione breathed out enjoying the feeling of relief she got being near her bondmates.

"How was your summer?" Fred asked.

Hermione who was squished between the twins shrugged.

"I did some reading. Went to Harry's. Did some more reading."

"Played Quidditch." Harry supplied.

"Went shopping with Aunty Amy."

Hermione nodded eagerly.

"That was fun. We went to muggle London."

"Hang on..."

"Did you spend the summer at Harry's?"

"Er..yes."

"Huh."

Both twins scowled and stopped talking.

"What did I do?" Hermione mouthed at Susan, who shrugged.

Luckily the twins sulking was interrupted by the opening of the compartment door. Two first-years stood there, one red head that Hermione vaguely recognised as the Twins' sister, the other a dirty blond who was wearing a dress of patchwork green fabric and seemed to be watching something on the ceiling.

"Fred, George, this is me telling you I'm safe." The redhead complained bossily, arms crossed over her chest.

Fred nodded.

"You're fine, Ginny. You got somewhere to sit?"

Ginny nodded.

"We managed to find a compartment."

She wandered off, her friend trailing dreamily behind her.

Harry blinked, shaking a slightly star-struck look out of his eyes.

"Who was that?"

Fred scowled.

"Our little sister Ginny. Don't even think about it, Black."

"No, no, not her. The girl with her."

"Oh," George shrugged. "That's Luna Lovegood. She lives near us. Nice girl. Bit odd, but nice."

Harry nodded slowly. It took a while for him to talk in full sentences again.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked as they settled into the Common Room that evening.

"Nothing," Fred said entirely too quickly.

George, however, sighed.

"'Mione why didn't you write to us this summer?"

"You weren't expecting a letter from me." She shrugged. "I didn't think it was an issue."

"We were worried about you. It would have been nice to hear something from you. At least to know you were okay."

They both sighed this time.

"We could've done something, like gotten our school supplies. Even just to see you for five minutes. This bloody thing has been impossible all summer." Fred raised his wrist. "We could barely feel you."

Hermione sighed, thinking guiltily of the occasional pangs of worry she'd felt over the summer. She'd attributed them to general activities and ignored it.

"I'm sorry." She murmured.

* * *

_Hermione once described her bonds as a strange itch at the back of her mind. I theorise it is that Hermione's perhaps more disciplined mind found it easier to ignore her bonds with Fred and George, despite her being attached to two different bonds. However, the Twins are, by their very nature, impulsive. If something was bothering them they fixated on it. Their connection to Hermione was much more tenuous and easily affected by things like distance or sleep._

* * *

The year passed slowly and without much interest. The Twins forgot about Hermione's birthday again, although she did get a very nice box of fudge from Professor McGonagall, sugar quills from Harry and Susan and a large book called " _Disarming the Armed."_ from Amelia Bones, who insisted on being called Auntie Amy.

Gilderoy Lockhart was, as Sirius had promised, a pompous moron. After an appalling lesson involving Cornish Pixies, the class consisted of Professor Lockhart reading long and dramatic chapters from his books. Hermione in a fit of desperation, after the third lesson spent snoozing on Harry's shoulder, who was well and truly asleep, had gone to Professor McGonagall to beg the titles of appropriate Defence books from the Library.

* * *

Shortly after the worrying events of Halloween and the petrification of Mrs Norris, Hermione was summoned to Professor McGonagall's office.

"You asked to see me Professor?" she asked from the doorway.

"Have a seat Miss Granger."

Feeling slightly worried, Hermione perched on the edge of the chair, watching her teacher shuffle papers.

"How have your classes been?"

Hermione frowned.

"Normal." She murmured, feeling suspicious.

Professor McGonagall nodded distractedly.

"Good, good."

They sat in silence for several minutes.

"Professor McGonagall if that's all you had to ask, may I leave?"

"Not quite yet. I do have something else to ask you. I am just wondering if there is a tactful way to go about it."

"Just get it over with and tell me."

Minerva smiled slightly at Hermione's brutal tone.

"Very well. Miss Granger. I believe I have come to a solution to your housing problem. It is my wish, if you are agreeable of course, to adopt you."

"What!?" Hermione spluttered.

Minerva continued as if she hadn't heard.

"I would, of course, be able to provide you with a home, a stable background, support, safety."

Hermione frowned and tried to ignore the panicky feeling in her chest.

"So this is for my safety?"

"Partly." Minerva frowned slightly. "Hermione, I won't pretend. Because of your bond with the Weasley Twins there are those out there that would wish you harm. And as much as we would like to keep it under wraps for as long as possible, we have to face the reality that someday this news will come out into the open. As you are a muggleborn you are at a disadvantage in the face of our laws. As a ward of the school, you are under the authority of the school governors, the characters of whom could be called into question. Anyone could claim you without your consent and attempt to abuse your gift."

"How? It doesn't even do anything. It's just tells me when the twins are in trouble. How could that possibly be of use to someone?"

"I asked Professor Flitwick the same thing. He suspects, and I agree, that your bond is not yet complete. It may, someday, blossom into something considerably more powerful. At which point having control of one of you would be a desirable thing indeed."

Hermione nodded slowly.

"Who did you ask to help you with this? You're going to need a second signature."

"I did ask Filius, Professor Flitwick. But because of his goblin heritage, he would not be acceptable to the Ministry. So I asked Sirius Black."

It made sense. In a twisted sort of way.

"And..."

"He agreed."

"So Harry and I would be siblings?"

"Of a sort."

She sat quietly, fiddling with the cuff of her robe.

"If I may have some time to think about this..." Hermione got to her feet without waiting for an answer and left.

* * *

"Can I talk to you guys?" Hermione asked quietly. Harry, Fred, George and Susan, who was visiting from the Hufflepuff table, looked up. "Not here."

"I'll leave you lot be." Susan got to her feet to leave.

"Actually, could you come too?" Hermione asked shakily, reaching out for George's hand.

Frowning Susan followed the rest of them out of the Great Hall and into a spare classroom.

"Professor McGonagall wants to adopt me," she said, without preamble.

The Twins frowned and settled on either side of her. Hermione breathed out slightly, glad to have them next to her. Harry and Susan however, glanced guiltily at each other.

"We know."

"Sirius wrote to us last week to ask what we thought."

Hermione stared at them in amazement.

"What and you couldn't tell me? Give me some warning at least? Even hinted slightly?"

"We promised not to," Harry told her, looking genuinely apologetic.

"Why did Sirius write to you anyway?"

Susan shrugged.

"What with the wedding coming up, we're pretty much family. He didn't want to make a big decision like that without asking us our opinions."

"Oh." Hermione deflated slightly. "And what were your opinions?"

Harry and Susan shrugged.

"We kinda figured you'd be living with us from now on anyway. You're like my sister anyway." Susan nodded in agreement.

"It'll be nice to have another girl around the place. Between Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus and Harry we're a bit outnumbered. Besides...you're my friend."

"The Hufflepuff has spoken." Harry intoned, earning himself a slap on the shoulder from Susan. "Hufflepuff's aren't supposed to hit people." He grumbled.

"Well, this one does." Susan grinned at Hermione. "See? I need all the help I can get."

Hermione chuckled weakly.

"What about you two?" She asked.

The twins exchanged a glance over her head.

"As long as you're happy, then we're happy."

Fred frowned at her.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I think...I think it's insane."

"We'd be family." Harry pointed out.

Hermione chewed her lip, frowning.

"Would I have to change my name?"

"Not if you didn't want to."

"Oh. Okay."

"What did you tell her?"

"I asked to think about it."

"Got an answer?" Harry pressed, earning him glares from the twins.

"Yeah. I think I do."

* * *

"I don't need a mother." She announced, without preamble.

"I understand."

"But..." Hermione sighed, twisting her fingers together. "An _aunt_ would be nice."

Minerva smiled.

"It would be my honour. Can I have your signature then?"

Hermione signed along the dotted line, between Minerva's careful print and Sirius' scrawl.

"What's the last space for?" She asked curiously.

"Your grandmother."

"But she gave me up."

"Until we have her signature the Ministry won't allow it."

"Okay." Hermione tapped her feet nervously on the floor. "How will this work?"

"You will spend the summer holiday's with Sirius, as I spend most holidays attending lectures and caring for the castle. You are, of course, more than welcome to come with me. I will cover the cost of your tuition fees and upkeep." Minerva frowned at the girl. "Hermione, we will try and keep this as quiet as possible. Particularly from the Headmaster. I'll assume you've told Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley."

"Harry and Susan know as well."

"That's fine. I'll talk to you when the paperwork is finalised." Minerva smirked at her, a strangely Slytherin look. "You've got a Duelling Club to go to remember."

Hermione groaned.

"Is it true Lockhart's running it?"

"Unfortunately."

Hermione grumbled on her way out the door.

"This is going to be unimaginably boring."

* * *

_It wasn't._

_Because of the notoriety of the House of Black, Harry was considered to be a perfect candidate for the title of Heir of Slytherin. The parseltongue incident, as it was dubbed, did not help matters._

* * *

"MAKE WAY FOR THE DARK LORD!" Fred bellowed, causing several Ravenclaw first years to scream and Harry to go red.

"THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN PASSES BEFORE YOU. COWER MERE MORTALS."

"WILL YOU TWO JUST STOP?" Harry begged, ignoring the whispers that said, Pureblood or not, the Weasley Twins were next. "Please. Just go and annoy Hermione or something." He glanced apologetically at the Ravenclaws, a group which included one Luna Lovegood, who was staring at a lamp.

"Can't..."

"She's hiding in the Library..."

"Won't talk to us."

"Besides..." Fred smiled winningly. "You just love our company, Harry."

Not for the first time, Harry irritably thought the Twins were a lot like cats. If they could get to who they wanted, they annoyed everyone in the vicinity until Hermione came out and paid attention to them.

* * *

"Hermione I must ask, what passed between yourself and your grandmother?"

Hermione paused, in the middle of sipping from a cup of tea. She and Minerva (calling her Professor only resulted in glares) had been meeting for cups of tea every Sunday since the beginning of the winter term. Minerva insisted she wanted to get to know her better and Hermione could hardly fault her for doing so.

She sat her teacup down in its saucer and hugged her knees to her chest.

"My grandmother was always a bit strict." She began, eyes losing focus slightly. "She was always very concerned with respectability. After Mum and Dad...died the police handed me over to her. We were all right for the first couple of days and then we had the funeral. I was...upset."

"Perfectly understandable."

Hermione drew in a shuddering breath.

"She was telling me off for something, crying on my new dress or something. I don't know. I lost my temper. Started shrieking that everything was wrong and ruined and that I hated her. My guess now would be that I lost control of my magic. At the time I had no idea what was happening to me. I shattered every piece of glass in the house. Vases, windows, mirrors...everything. It was just too much for me. I was terrified. She dragged me out to Lambeth that very night. Couldn't stand having me in the house. I haven't seen her since. And of course, the other children remembered. Never let me forget it." She added bitterly.

Minerva sighed.

"I have always disagreed with the Ministry's approach to muggleborns. By the time we've made contact at eleven, most have already been put through mind healing, are ostracised from their families, subjected to bullying. Yours is perhaps the most extreme case I've heard of though."

Hermione shrugged.

"Have you visited...her yet?"

"No. I intend to visit this weekend."

Hermione nodded, staring deep into her tea.

"Good luck with that."

* * *

The house was perfectly middle class, gardens the sort of tidy only the retired over sixty could manage. The woman was obviously well off. Certainly enough for money not to be an issue in her vicious abandonment of her granddaughter. Minerva eyed the flower pots as she clicked her way up the path. They were just asking for some cat to knock them off. No one would notice if she...

Minerva gripped her clipboard to her chest and ignored the more feline part of her instincts.

Causing trouble would not help Hermione.

The young witch had been quiet but seemed happy enough when she'd seen her last. It was sometimes hard to tell with Hermione. She'd asked if she wanted her to pass along a message. The answer had been a resounding no and an exploded inkwell.

She rapped twice on the door, ignoring the doorbell. Muggles came up with the strangest inventions. She could hear the footsteps getting closer as she shifted impatiently in front of the green door. Somewhat maliciously she thought this probably indicated the sort of person living in the house. Who in their right mind had a _green_ door?

"Hello." The woman was easily twenty years Minerva's senior, with greying hair, which curled slightly against her skull. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I believe you can. Are you..." Minerva pretended to consult her clipboard. "Mrs Amanda Hargreaves?"

"I am, yes." The woman frowned suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"Excellent." Minerva swept past her, striding down the corridor to a room she assumed was the sitting room. "This will do nicely." She perched on the edge of a floral sofa. "You might as well sit down." She said. "This may take a while. Then again it may take no time at all. That depends on you."

The slightly shocked woman frowned and sat down in her own armchair. There wasn't much resemblance between her and Hermione. Nothing that would tie the woman to her at least.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall. I am depute headmistress at Hogwarts School. I am here regarding your granddaughter, one Hermione Granger, aged thirteen."

The woman stiffened and her dark eyes grew flinty.

"What did she do?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"That little freak. What did she do?"

"Can you please confirm this is your granddaughter?"

"Unfortunately." She spat.

Grimacing somewhat, Minerva noted something on her clipboard.

"Were you aware of your granddaughter's entrance to...private education?"

"Private? Is that why you're here? Money?"

"Hardly. I am here because of you. When Miss Granger was admitted to my school it was under the assumption that she had no living relatives. Her education has been provided through a fund set up for orphans. As Miss Granger's current living arrangements have been deemed unacceptable, the school has decided to make Miss Granger a ward of the school governors, as Miss Granger case is somewhat unusual..."

"Freakish."

Minerva frowned.

"I was referring to Miss Granger's outstanding academic ability. She has received some of the highest marks the school has ever awarded. She participates in extra-curricular activities and is sociable and polite. In short a credit to her school. The school would be honoured to take responsibility for her. As such she will continue to receive funding and support, along with bed and board. Miss Granger will be encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities offered to her, which will further her education and job opportunities. However..." She thrust the clipboard at the pale woman. "We require your signature. Officially speaking you will relinquish all rights to your granddaughter. You may retain contact if you so wish, but otherwise, we will not contact you again."

* * *

Ten minutes later a triumphant Minerva McGonagall handed the form to the witch (another ex-student) in the Ministry's registration office.

Hermione Granger now had a family.

Well, one that wanted her at least.

* * *

"What's this?" Hermione breathed, the brown paper crackling under her grip.

Minerva smiled.

"Open it and find out." She said, smiling gently. Hermione did so, undoing the various strings holding the parcel together to reveal...

"A broom?"

The teacher nodded.

"I figured a Gryffindor chaser couldn't possibly play on a school broom and we just had Christmas, so I thought why not?" She shrugged slightly. "It's also a bit of a thank you present."

"But I didn't do anything...?"

"Yes, you did Hermione. I don't have any family left. I lost them in the war. But now, thanks to you, I've got a daughter. Of a sort."

Hermione grinned and, impulsively, hugged her.

Minerva waited until the witch had finished before speaking again.

"It's not a Nimbus, they're useless for chasers. I double-checked with Wood..." Hermione had been wondering why Wood had been looking particularly gleeful recently. "Hopefully you'll get to play soon."

Hermione shrugged, smiling down at her new broom.

"I don't mind if I don't play. Angelina, Katie and Alicia are brilliant. But thank you. So much."

* * *

Valentines Day swung around with disgusting gusto.

"You've got to be kidding me," Hermione muttered, staring in disbelief at the violently pink walls.

"We really wish we were." Fred sighed. "Even we wouldn't put people through this."

"And that's from the man who pranked our mother," George smirked and steered them towards the Hall for breakfast. "It has to be Lockhart's doing. No one else is barmy enough to do this."

"Speaking of which, ickle second year..."

"You can't call me that." She protested, brushing confetti off her shoulders.

Fred ruffled a hand through his hair, dislodging the little paper hearts.

"Fine. Amazon, how come you're not as devoted to the git as every other girl?"

"I even caught Angelina doodling in her notebook." George scowled. "Mrs Angelina Lockhart." He simpered, rubbing his black eye thoughtfully.

"Disgusting." Fred proclaimed. "But still our point stands..."

Hermione sighed.

"You mean aside from the obvious, like his appalling teaching, terrible taste in robes, the fact he's an obnoxious git..."

"Yes."

"He's blond."

The twins frowned at each other over her head.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

The tips of Hermione's ears, which were poking through her hair, turned red.

"I don't like blonds." She muttered, increasing her stride and leaving two perplexed fourth years behind her.

* * *

"THIS QUIDDITCH MATCH IS CANCELLED! ALL STUDENTS WILL RETURN TO THEIR COMMON ROOMS IMMEDIATELY!" Professor Flitwick, led a tear-stained Minerva McGonagall onto the Quidditch pitch, where Gryffindor was due to play Hufflepuff. The Twins looked relieved as they steered their brooms down to the pitch. They'd been ill since they'd gotten to the pitch, nearly half an hour earlier. Harry dragged them towards their Head of House, ignoring Oliver's furious shouting and their nauseous protests as they stumbled across the grass pitch.

"Are those two all right?" Professor Flitwick asked, turning off the magical megaphone, but still having to talk loudly over the sound of hundreds of pupils leaving the stands.

Harry shrugged, more concerned with the new attack.

"They fainted half an hour ago. Been like this since Oliver poured some water on them."

The Twins, who were grey and pale, were watching Professor McGonagall who was sobbing into a handkerchief with a look of utter dread.

"I think you three had better come with me," Flitwick whispered.

* * *

It took some effort to get the Twins to the Hospital Wing. They'd made the connection, between Minerva's heartbroken sobbing and the utter emptiness coming through the bond.

They refused to leave her side for days.

* * *

_In all my years of teaching, I've never seen two pupils look so lost. I don't think they realised how much they relied on their bondmate or on the bond. They described it to me as the most horrid feeling of being incomplete. Like someone had ripped away their other half._

_It was heartbreaking to see._

_Minerva, who had promised to keep the girl safe and had grown quite close to her, was inconsolable. If she hadn't had that mirror...we dread to think what would have become of her._

_Fred and George seemed to fade. There were no pranks or jokes. They existed, but they didn't live. Even the students noticed a change. The whole school became quiet and furtive. No fights or magic in the hallways. No speaking over the teacher or skipping class. It was as if the soul of the school was petrified along with Hermione._

_It wasn't until Miss Bones made a discovery that they woke up again._

* * *

"Hermione?" Susan whispered.

When the boys had told her what had happened, Susan hadn't wanted to believe it. Usually quite a down-to-earth girl, she had hung firmly onto the belief that it was a joke.

Hermione would be all right. Well, Madam Pomfrey said she would be. Eventually.

Sirius and Amelia had been furious, wanting to march down to Hogwarts or find someone else with mature mandrakes. It wasn't like Professor Sprout was the only Herbologist in the world. Someone would have something.

But they couldn't. How could you explain them taking such an...expensive interest in one muggleborn student. The governors wouldn't authorise the spending of so much money, especially for a handful of muggleborns.

"Auntie wants you to be in her wedding. Bridesmaid. We've got matching dresses. You'll hate them."  
She sighed, reaching up to touch Hermione's outstretched hand.

"The Twins aren't the same without you. Hermione...I hadn't realised you were so close. I wish you'd told me you were dating them. I asked Harry and he'd laughed at me. Boy's don't realise these things though. Fred and George really care about you." She said. She frowned slightly, feeling something that wasn't stone-like skin. "What on earth?"

* * *

"Hagrid's been arrested." Harry hissed across the table.

"For?"

"They think he unleashed the monster. Apparently he was responsible for the last time the Chamber opened."

Fred frowned.

"So this was fifty years ago?" Harry nodded, grateful he'd let the twins interrogate Malfoy. The little git had almost wet himself when they'd hung him upside down from a torch bracket. George chewed his lip, fingers trailing down a book on magical creatures. "We need to talk to someone who was here fifty years ago then."

"Who? The teachers won't talk to us. None of our parents know enough."

"Why was Hagrid arrested?"

"There was a death..."

"Exactly. And who would know about deaths fifty years ago?" Fred's blue eyes sparked slightly. Harry wasn't sure he liked the look on the Twins faces. Without Hermione there they'd become somewhat reckless. He hated to think what would happen if things somehow got worse.

"The ghosts." George hissed in triumph.

* * *

"Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever." Fred swayed slightly, George clasping his shoulder in support. Ron looked like he was going to vomit. Percy was silent, a snapped quill dangling from his fingers.

"I'm so sorry." Professor McGonagall breathed.

* * *

_The Weasley family should have been under surveillance in Dumbledore's Office, awaiting their parent's arrival. Our only explanation is that whilst the teachers were assembling for the staff meeting, they snuck away and met up with Mr Black. Harry's contact with Miss Weasley had been limited, to say the least. Talking with Fred and George later I have come to believe that it was the combined shock of losing their bondmate, albeit temporarily and the very real possibility of the death of their little sister which prompted them to do something so monumentally stupid._

* * *

"We're going to save Ginny."

Harry's green eyes widened as he paled.

"Guys you're my best friends but we'll be going after a _Basilisk_ _ **.**_ Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

"Harry we can't just wait for someone to do anything. The teachers have given up...they think she's..." Fred swallowed and leaned against his brother. Both were pale, their eyes red and worried. To Harry's mind, they didn't look sane. This was what months without their other half did. What would they do if she died?

"Listen, we don't even know where the Chamber is. How could we rescue her? She could be almost anywhere."

That got them to pause for a moment.

"Pipes." George murmured, shaking his brother and Harry out of their reverie.

"What?"

"Hermione. She knew the monster was travelling through the pipes. Hogwarts is a magical building. Only the toilets actually have plumbing. Remember Dad was explaining to us. He got all excited about an actual muggle method being used."

They frowned at him.

"How does that help us?"

George stared at them.

"Remember what you said Fred? We need to talk to a ghost. What ghost lives in a bathroom?"

* * *

"BOMBARDA!" The Twins shouted in unison, shattering the, mercifully empty, porcelain toilet. Moaning Myrtle shot out of the U bend like a rocket, hovering above their heads, an expression of utter fury on her face.

"That was my _favourite_ toilet." She hissed.

Harry winced slightly, but the Twins were unmoved, identical expressions of resolve and anger.

"Fifty years ago, you were killed by the monster in the Chamber of Secrets," Fred demanded.

Myrtle nodded gleefully.

"It was terrible..." She smiled and pointed at the nearest sink. "There was a pair of glowing eyes coming from over there. Of course, I didn't realise..."

The Twins tuned her out, moving to examine the sink carefully. They finally found what they were looking for. A small snake etched onto one of the taps.

"How do we open it?" Harry asked when they showed him.

"We could always blow it up," Fred suggested, twirling his wand.

Harry sighed.

"And this is why we need Hermione. You can't just blow up a door and expect it to open. This was made by Salazar Slytherin..." Harry swallowed. "What if I use parseltongue?"

"Go for it." George gestured, dragging his brother backwards, keeping one eye on the now pouting Myrtle.

It took several attempts. He had to imagine that the snake was actually looking at him before anything even resembling hissing came out. Eventually, the sink moved aside, revealing the very wide, very dark hole.

"What do you think?" Fred asked.

"Ginny's down there." George pointed out.

"Right." And with no warning, Fred stepped off the ledge.

"It's okay." He yelled back eventually, his voice echoing around the damp stone.

"Harry you go next."

George all but kicked Harry into the pipe, before stepping around to the next sink.

" _Bombarda._ " He whispered.

The mirror shattered into large pieces and George pocked several, careful not to cut his hands. Slipping his legs over into the pipe he pushed forward and slid down into the dark. The pipe levelled out finally and George shot out into darkness.

" _Lumos._ " He whispered and glanced around. Fred and Harry were standing quite close to the pipe, peering into the gloom. Even with the wand light, they could only see so far into the gloom. "Here," George muttered, handing out shards of mirror. "If you think you see something, check with the mirror. C'mon."

Wands drawn, they walked slowly into the dark. Harry jumped almost a foot in the air when Fred stepped on something which gave way with a large crunch. George lowered his wand and scowled at the sight of hundreds of animal skeletons. His brother and Harry looked slightly sick and George suspected they were thinking the same thing as him.

_Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever._

"George..." Fred muttered. He didn't need to finish his sentence as George made out the large shadow lying across the tunnel. Gesturing for the other two to stay back, George crept up to it, wand raised, his mirror held loosely in front of him.

The snakeskin was huge, taller than George and almost twice as thick.

"It's fine." He called. Together they stared at the thing.

"It's even bigger now," Harry whispered.

"What?"

"Snakes. They shed their skins when they grow. It'll be even bigger now."

That was not a thought either twin wanted to dwell on.

"C'mon." Fred called, striding ahead. "We've got to find Ginny."

They walked for easily another five minutes, following the bends in the tunnel until they reached a dead end. There were two large serpents carved into the stone. Their eyes were set with emeralds.

"You're up, Harry."

Harry swallowed, looking nauseous.

He opened the door on the first try this time. The snakes slid aside and they stepped through, sticking close together.

"We're definitely in the right place." Harry whispered.

Everything about the cavern screamed Slytherin. The pillars supporting the carved ceiling were snakes and an odd greenish gloom filled the air. They hurried through the hall, Fred and George flanking Harry and keeping the dark edges of the hall in view. As they passed the last pair of serpents, Fred let out a low moan.

At the base of a towering statue, was a crumpled figure dressed in black robes with red hair spilling across the stone floor.

_Ginny!_

Fred and George were on her in seconds, checking her over for injuries.

"GINNY!" Fred yelled, forgetting to be quiet. George hefted his sister up into his arms and they turned to leave.

"Guys!" Harry called, not moving.

The Twins turned and stared at him. Harry, however, was staring at the lonely figure standing not five feet from him, leaning against a pillar.

"Who the hell are you?" George demanded, eyes cold.

"Tom Riddle." The boy watched them, obviously bored. "Pleasure."

Both twins went pale. They'd heard that name before.

"What did you do with our sister?" Fred asked, dangerously quiet.

"Well, that's an interesting question." Now Fred was looking at him, the boy seemed almost blurry. "And quite a long story."

"Then shorten it," Fred growled, raising his wand.

Riddle snorted, unimpressed. He pointed one pale finger at a small black book.

"That's Ginny's diary." George frowned. He'd seen Ginny scribbling in it all year long. Looking paler and paler as she did so... A sinking feeling formed in his stomach.

"Before it was Ginny's diary, it was mine. I left a piece of my soul in it, a memory if you like and little Ginny Weasley came along and poured her heart and soul in. Which was exactly what I needed. I got stronger, strong enough to convince Ginny to do what I wanted." He pushed away from the pillar and moved toward them. "Not that she knew what she was doing of course. Took her a long time to figure out that those gaps in her memory were because of me. But by that time the Chamber had been opened." Fred's fist clenched and had George not been holding Ginny, Harry suspected he would have tried to tackle the memory. Riddle's eyes narrowed. "It was her who unleashed the basilisk on that friend of yours. The orphan mudblood. But eventually, I had to stop somewhere. Ginny was beginning to suspect and I couldn't have her going to the teachers now could I?" He smirked, eyes firmly fixed on the twins. "I made her write her own farewell message and hide down here. By now she's put so much of her soul into me that she really hasn't got much longer left to live." He smiled brightly at George. "Isn't she getting awfully cold?"

Harry's brain suddenly kicked into gear.

"It's the diary!" He darted forward and nabbed the book, careful to stay away from Riddle. "The book is draining Ginny..."

Fred grinned.

"Harry take Ginny. Get her out of here." George handed his sister to the smaller boy, before moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with his brother, dropping the diary in front of them.

Riddle laughed.

"You can't destroy me with wands."

"Yeah. People said we couldn't knock out a troll with a disarming charm either..."

"Or get into the third-floor corridor."

"In fact, we specialise in doing things people say can't be done."

"You remember that friend of ours you attacked..."

"Well, she's much, much more than our friend..."

"She's our bondmate." Fred smirked slightly as the smile dropped off Riddle's face. "And even Lord Voldemort knows to be afraid of a soul bond."

"It won't work. STOP!"

They ignored him and reached out for the bond. Even with their other half petrified, the bond was still there. Those weeks they'd spent sitting by Hermione's side had taught them that.

So they reached out and dug deep. Used all the fury and hatred they felt towards Tom Riddle and what he had done to them to fuel the spell. Used the love and care they felt for Hermione to fuel the bond. The bond marks on their hands shone through the glamour, bright lights with hints of blue, green and gold.

" _Incendio!"_ They yelled.

Riddle screamed as the pages blackened and burnt. Ink poured in a torrent from the book and onto the floor, lapping at their shoes. They didn't let the spell up until the boy who would become the world's darkest lord, flickered and vanished.

Both boys wavered, swaying on their feet. Fred kicked the diary away from him in disgust. He didn't speak. He didn't need to when it was just them. George followed him out and back into the tunnel.

Harry was waiting just beyond the hole in the wall and, propped against a wall, was Ginny.

She paled when she saw her brothers.

"I'm sorry...so..."

"Shut up Gin." Fred muttered, tugging his sister up for a hug. George smiled faintly and joined them.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Are you two okay?" Harry demanded, leading the way back through the tunnel. "Because you look like hell."

"Thanks, mate."

"Spell took a bit out of us. Speaking of which..."

They had reached a particularly narrow bit of tunnel.

"Here works." George nodded.

"You two go on up the tunnel a bit."

"What're you going to do?" Ginny asked cautiously, well aware of the Twins' penchant for pyrotechnics.

"Blow up the tunnel. That monsters still in here. If we leave this open it could attack again. But..."

"This _might_ collapse the whole tunnel." George grinned at them, still pale and sooty. "So do us a favour and go on ahead a bit."

"Little sisters."

"Honestly."

Ginny rolled her eyes and followed Harry obediently up the tunnel.

"Ready?"

Fred nodded.

" _Bombarda Maxima_!" They bellowed, wands aimed at the ceiling and ran. The loud rumbling behind them told them they'd been successful, but they didn't stop and kept sprinting. Harry and Ginny caught on quickly and the four of them sped back to the pipe.

Skidding to a stop they looked back into the now dusty tunnel.

"Hey, George?" Harry asked.

"Mmm."

"How do we get back up the pipe?"

The three boys paused and stared up the near-vertical and very slippy pipe.

"Ah."

Ginny giggled.

"You ask for stairs." She said, blushing slightly. "That's what I did anyway."

Fred and George looked expectantly at their raven-haired companion who groaned and complied.

* * *

_In the history of the Hospital Wing, and Poppy assures me it is a long and colourful history, no patient who has been declared petrified has ever managed to set fire to their curtains. Hermione Granger is the only holder of this title._

_That Fred and George could manifest their incomplete bonds without Hermione present or even conscious, should have a been an obvious indicator of the power they would later wield. It's only looking back that I realise the signs I missed._

* * *

When Hermione eventually woke up, it was to the sight of Fred and George. Or at least it was for the first millisecond before they pounced on her.

"Missed you Amazon." Fred breathed into her hair.

Hermione coughed and George sat back so she could drink from the glass of water Madam Pomfrey had sat out for her.

"The basilisk, it's under the school. That's what's attacking..."

"We know Hermione." George slipped an arm around her shoulder and tucked in close to her. "We figured it out."

"What?"

Fred laughed quietly.

"Hermione it's the end of term. Today's the end of school feast. You've missed a lot."

Hermione went very still.

"Then you'd better fill me in then."

* * *

"When we get home," Sirius murmured. "We are going to have a very _very_ long talk. About words like safety and common sense and stupidity."

Harry and Hermione nodded quietly.

The Twins had already left, along with the rest of the Weasley family so Harry, Hermione and Susan followed their guardian out into Kings Cross station and the wide world.

* * *

"Parseltongue!" Sirius shrieked.

Harry shrugged.

"We just thought I'd inherited it. It got us into the Chamber though."

Sirius shook his head violently.

"No. No. Harry, you can trace the Potter linage back to Godric Gryffindor. There is no way you inherited it. The only person you could have gotten that from is the one who attacked you at Godric's Hollow."

Harry's hand went to his scar.

"When the curse rebounded..." Amelia drew in a deep breath, looking faintly disgusted. "There is a chance that Voldemort's soul could have fractured. His body was damaged. It would have headed for the nearest possible vessel."

"Dumbledore never told us..." Sirius breathed.

Harry just looked sick.

"So I have a piece of.. _him_ inside my head?"

"We'll get it out though? Sirius?"

The Marauder was pale, staring at Harry in horror.

 _"Sirius!"_ Hermione yelled.

"Yes. Course. Definitely." He collapsed into his desk chair. "I have no idea how."

Remus spoke up for the first time since they'd begun this conversation.

"I know where might though." He looked at Sirius, his face unusually drawn, scars standing out in sharp relief.

"Grimmauld."

Sirius flinched.

"Where's Grimmauld?"

"It's my house." Sirius murmured. "Or rather the seat of the Nobel and Ancient House of Black. It has been left to ruin since my mother's death." He sighed, resting his head on his arms. "But you may be right Moony."

Remus, seeing their confused expressions, clarified.

"The House of Black has been known for generations for being...dark."

Sirius snorted.

"Dark? We make the Malfoys look positively saintly."

Remus ignored that.

"Sirius used to tell me, when we were at school together, about the Library there. Full of dark magic. If there was any way to displace a soul, it'd be there."

"Fine. We'll go in the morning."

"What will we need?" Harry asked, looking determined.

"You? Nothing. You're not going." Amelia glowered at Harry and Sirius nodded.

"I don't want you there. Ever, if I can avoid it."

"I'll go." Remus offered.

Sirius nodded.

"I'll adjust the wards to let you through."

"How big is this Library?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Huge."

"It could take Remus months on his own." She pointed out. "So I'll go and help."

"WHAT?"

"Don't shout. It makes sense. I read just as fast as Remus does."

"Hermione, the books in there are nothing a young girl should read..."

"Then I'll just read the contents pages. I can't sit by and not do something to help Harry and I'm really your only other option. You two are getting married this summer and I really don't think this is something you want to involve Susan in."

Sirius rubbed at his eyes.

"I am a terrible parent." He muttered. "Fine. But don't tell Minerva. She'll kill me."

* * *

Getting into the Library was a difficult enough task as it was. They had to wait two days until the house-elves Sirius had sent in gave the all-clear. The building was gloomy, dark and damp. Hermione and Remus worked their way slowly through the shelves, Hermione checking the contents and indexes for reference and Remus doing the actual reading. The title pages were enough to make her shudder.

* * *

All reading had to be halted halfway through the holidays for the wedding.

Like Susan had promised Hermione was a bridesmaid. The wedding itself was a lavish affair, as was the custom for the joining of two Noble and Ancient Houses.

Or so she'd been told at least.

The wedding party even made the front page of the Daily Prophet.

Fred and George, the day before they were due to leave for Egypt had been invited and Hermione spent most of the reception dancing with them and talking to Bill Weasley, who worked with Amelia and had been invited anyway. Molly had only let the Twins go if their brother promised to supervise them.

* * *

A week after the wedding and Sirius arrived back from his honeymoon early and alone. He'd ignored their demands for answers, instead of reaching for that morning's unopened Prophet. Scowling he held up the front page.

**ESCAPE FROM AZKABAN!**

Remus swore, Harry and Susan frown and Hermione screamed in fright.

"THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" She yelled, backing up from the picture until her back was against the wall. The glass in the windows began to shake and the water jug shattered.

"Hermione...?"

Hermione stared at Sirius with wild eyes, which were brimming with tears.

"That's Peter Pettigrew." She hissed. "He's the one who murdered my parents."

* * *

**Updated 2019**


	12. A Rat Infestation

"Hermione," Remus pleaded, very conscious of the shaking window panes, "You have to calm down. Breath."

Hermione shuddered, moving away from his outstretched arms.

"He can't be back." She pleaded, tears spilling down her cheeks, eyes still fixed on the front page. Sirius swore and folded the paper, hiding it from view.

Harry stepped forward, wrapping his long arms around her and tugging her close to him. She sobbed gratefully into his shoulder.

"It's her." Remus whispered to Sirius. "Isn't it?"

Sirius shrugged.

"I always said I'd give her the world if I ever found her. But I can't be sure. Amelia said they wiped her mind. If it is her, she shouldn't remember a thing."

"You and I both know how inept the Obliviation Squad are."

"Hermione!"

Harry staggered slightly as Hermione went limp, her eyes rolling back in her head.

Sirius scooped her up easily and jogged upstairs.

* * *

Harry sat next to her on her bed, Remus and Sirius standing shoulder to shoulder at the foot, arms crossed, watching. Susan was down in the kitchen, organising the house elves. They always took it very badly when one of the family was hurt.

"'Mione?" Harry asked as she stirred.

Hermione pushed herself up in bed, looking confused. Suddenly she paled and vomited into the bucket Remus thoughtfully held out. Harry dragged her hair back from her face and waited for her to finish.

"Sorry." She whispered.

"Don't be." Remus vanished the contents of the bucket and held out a glass of water, which she accepted gratefully. "It's to be expected when you've had a shock."

"Why did you faint?" Harry asked, linking their hands together.

She shrugged, listlessly.

"The Twins panicked...I think. They must have felt my shock and overloaded the bond."

"You can do that?"

"Apparently."

Remus frowned.

"They can feel your emotions?" He asked.

Hermione nodded.

"Only the strong ones. Like fear. Pain."

Harry let of a gasp of realisation.

"The Quidditch match. Last year. Fred and George fainted in the changing rooms. It would have been just about the time..."

"I got petrified." Hermione nodded. "We've been meaning to speak to Flitwick about it."

"I didn't realise it was so strong." Remus murmured.

Sirius scowled.

"Hermione, how do you know who Peter Pettigrew is?"

Her eyes went dark and she swallowed.

"He broke into our cottage." She whispered hoarsely. "Killed Mum and Dad. Policemen said he was a robber." She frowned at them. "What was he doing in Azkaban?"

Remus sighed, rubbing a hand down the side of his face, pulling at one of his scars.

"It's her. I can't believe it, but it's her." He turned back to her. "Hermione, Peter Pettigrew is a wizard who was locked up for following You-Know-Who."

"What?" Hermione frowned at them, her breathing picking up. "No. _No_. He's a muggle. He broke in and he shot my parents. He's _not_ a wizard."

Remus groaned. He looked like he'd aged significantly in the last hour or so.

"Hermione your memory was wiped. All that...its just a cover story. When the Aurors finally got a fix on him, they found him at the home of a muggle family. No one knows why he was there or why he killed them. He had evaded capture for seven years. We don't even know the full details because Amy refused to tell us, but we know there was a little girl there. She was the reason he was finally caught. He was supposed to serve be serving three life sentences for the murder of the Potters." Remus swallowed slightly. "One for each of the dead."

"Three?" she asked confused.

"Mum was pregnant when he betrayed them to You-Know-Who." Harry whispered.

"Oh." She whispered.

Remus sighed, ignoring the dark look on Sirius' face.

"The Obliviation Squad are responsible for stopping muggles from remembering magic. They will have wiped any mention of it from your mind. You shouldn't have remembered Pettigrew."

"I used to have nightmares." She whispered. "They'd stop me sleeping. I see his face and a flash of green light. I remembered his name and his face...but" She stopped and frowned at Remus. "Three life sentences? The Potters?"

Remus nodded.

"What about my parents? Why weren't they counted?"

The wizard flinched.

"Hermione, you have to understand. In the eyes of the Wizengamot, they were just muggles. Two in millions. James and Lily were wizards and their deaths were the priority."

Hermione saw red.

"My parents _died_ and you're telling me that they didn't count." Her voice had turned venomous. "They weren't cockroaches they were people, they had lives, they had me...Just because they didn't have magic didn't make them any less _real_!"

"Hermione...?" Harry reached for her cautiously.

She got to her feet, shoving her boots onto her feet and grabbing her broomstick.

"Piss off." She yelled, storming out.

Remus sighed again.

"That could have gone...better."

Sirius grunted.

"Is that true?" Harry asked quietly, rubbing the scar on his forehead.

Sirius and Remus nodded.

"How could they do that? I mean Mum and Dad were special, they were my parents. But so were Hermione's. How could they just disregard them like that?"

Sirius shrugged.

"Old prejudices run deep Harry. Muggles aren't exactly held in high regard, especially not by the Ministry. We had to fight for three life sentences."

"What?"

"Your mum. They were happy to accept the baby, it would have been half blood. But Lily was muggleborn. They almost didn't count her either. We won the vote but only because Amelia threw her support behind us."

Harry swallowed, seeing a tear tracing its way down Sirius' face.

"I just can't believe that bastard got free." He muttered. "As soon as Hermione calms down we need to take her to the Ministry. Amy needs to know about this."

"Sirius, she's just had a hell of a shock..."

Sirius glared at the sandy-haired wizard.

"Yes, and her photograph was on the front cover of the Prophet days before he escaped." Remus paled. "Now we know he's not after Harry because we kept him out of the photographs for that exact reason. So it narrows it down. If he's after revenge he'll be after me, Amy or Hermione."

"But she'll be safe..." Harry asked, frowning. "Won't she?"

Sirius shrugged.

"I don't know. That's what we need to see Amy about."

"Sirius we cannot take her to the Ministry. Imagine if the papers got hold of it. Wait until Amelia comes home. She must be mobbed at the moment and we don't want to draw any more attention to Hermione than necessary. The thing we really need to do is contact Minerva."

Padfoot bounded out of the room, snarling.

* * *

**ESCAPE FROM AZKABAN!  
**

**Peter Pettigrew, (above) possibly the most infamous prisoner to be housed at Azkaban, escaped from the Ministry prison in the north sea, early yesterday morning. He is the first prisoner to ever escape. Ministry Officials are baffled.**

**He is rumoured to be extremely dangerous and wizards are cautioned not to approach Pettigrew.  
**

**Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, issued a statement today,**

_"_ **_We are doing everything we can to recapture Pettigrew, and we beg the magical community to remain calm."_   
**

**Fudge has been criticised by the International Confederation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.**

_"_ **_Well, really, I had to, don't you know."_ said an irritable Fudge. _"Pettigrew is completely mad and a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or muggle. I have the Prime Minister assurance he won't breathe a word of Pettigrew's true identity to anyone. And let's face it -who'd believe him if he did?"_**

**Pettigrew is best known as the Death Eater who betrayed the location of James and Lily Potter to You-Know-Who, resulting in their deaths and the defeat of You-Know-Who at the hands of Harry Potter.**

**Mr Potter's guardian, Sirius Black, has refused to comment and as the search gets underway the attention must turn to Lord Black's new wife Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The breakout occurred whilst she was away from her post enjoying her honeymoon.  
**

**The Prophet has to question how long it will be before Madam Bones' inevitable resignation.**

* * *

Hermione screamed and dropped the paper into the small bonfire one of the garden elves was managing.

Not one line, not even a single mention.

It was as if her parents had never existed.

She watched with mounting hatred as flames destroyed the screaming photograph of Peter Pettigrew.

If she ever saw him, she'd do her best to kill him.

* * *

_I'd like to tell you that she didn't mean that. That that was a promise she made out of anger and fear. But Hermione had been living with the grief of her parents for a very long time. And to find out that no one had ever considered getting justice for their murders was heartbreaking._

_She truly wanted Pettigrew dead._

* * *

Amelia didn't come home that night. In fact, it took three days before she even set foot in the Manor again.

Hermione, usually the first awake, found her slumped at the dining room table, surrounded by files. The house elves were attempting to set the table for breakfast around her. Filly sent her a pleading look as she balanced a full carafe of coffee on a stack of manilla folders.

"Aunt Amy?" Hermione called, unused to using the words. Amelia stirred slightly, burrowing deeper into the paperwork. Hermione reached out and shook her shoulder.

Amelia jerked awake with a start and aimed a fork at Hermione. She blinked and her eyes cleared.

"Sorry." She yawned, lowing the utensil.

Hermione poured the witch a mug of coffee, used to seeing Amelia like this.

"It's all right." She murmured, pressing the mug into the older witch's hands.

Hermione sat down at the place next to her and began to help herself to breakfast, watching her adoptive Aunt by marriage, wake up slowly.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you about something..."

Hermione dropped a piece of toast in front of her.

"Eat first."

Amelia chuckled but did as she was bid. She looked terrible. Her hair was in disarray, her monocle tangled in with her fringe, the chain blending in with the blond strands. Her Auror uniform was battered and rumpled and there were large bags under her eyes. Sleeping on the papers had left large ink stains on her skin and Hermione could read words like " _updated security_ " and " _high alert_ " off her cheek.

Amelia swallowed the last of her toast and turned to Hermione.

"I was going through Pettigrew's arrest file and I found the report submitted by the Obliviation Squad..."

"And you realised that I was the little girl who survived the attack?" Hermione chuckled darkly. "Sirius worked it out after I had a panic attack at seeing his photograph."

"You remember?"

Hermione shrugged.

"In a way. I remember his face and his name. Otherwise, Remus says, my memories are faked. I thought my parents were shot."

Amelia sighed.

"Yes, but do you remember what you did?"

"Hid under the stairs," Hermione muttered.

"What?" Scowling Amelia rummaged through the stacks of paper until she came across a sheet of parchment. "This is the report of the first Aurors on the scene that night. They found Pettigrew, screaming and on _fire_ , next to two..." Amelia trailed off uncomfortably. "Well...Hermione, you were the reason Pettigrew was captured. We had a trace on Pettigrew's wand, but he rarely used it and _never_ stayed in the same place after he did so. But we found him because you kept him there long enough for the trace to connect."

She shook her head violently.

"I didn't set him on fire."

"Hermione you were the only magic user on the premises. We know it was a magical fire because it took six extinguishing charms to even stop him burning."

"I was _eight_." She protested desperately. "I couldn't. I wouldn't know how."

Amelia shrugged.

"Hermione you were a young, uncontrolled witch in the most emotionally unstable situation possible." She relented slightly, seeing the stubborn look on the girl before her. "Look Hermione it might not have been you. It could have been anything. But Pettigrew was in Azkaban for almost six years. Now some wizards can survive that. However, Pettigrew was one of the weakest pieces of scum I've ever come across. We were expecting him to be dead by now. If he is after you, he won't stop for reasonable explanations. You understand?"

Hermione nodded grudgingly.

"Very well. I need to go back to the Ministry. Hopefully, Fudge will give me permission to upgrade the security around Hogwarts. Weak fool." she added, getting to her feet. Hermione darted in front of her, blocking the route to the fireplace.

"Sirius has been going insane waiting for news."

"Well, he'll have to wait a little longer. Move Hermione."

"It's six-thirty in the morning. Can you honestly tell me the Minister is even at the Ministry right now?"

Amelia summoned her papers, bundling them into her arms.

"Hermione, I have a murderer on the loose, I really don't have time for this."

"Go to bed." She ordered, folding her arms.

Amelia stared back, visibly unimpressed.

"Go to bed," Hermione reiterated. "Or I'll wake up the whole house and Sirius can drag you there himself."

The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement groaned and gave in, dropping her papers onto the hall table.

Hermione followed her up the staircase, keeping her well away from any fireplaces.

* * *

_Hermione,_

_Are you okay?  
_

_Fred and George_

* * *

_Fred and George,_

_I'm fine._

_See you soon,_

_Hermione._

* * *

Minerva McGonagall sat down at the dinner table watching the unusually sombre family.

"Where's Susan?" She asked politely.

"Staying at Hannah Abbots for the night." Sirius murmured. "It's nice for her to spend time with her friends."

Minerva sighed.

"Right. Has Fudge approved new security for the school yet?" She asked.

Amelia stabbed at her dinner.

"That lily-livered, bloody, fuc..."

"Amelia Bones!" Minerva interrupted. "I'll thank you not to swear in front of children.

Amelia sent an apologetic glance at Harry and Hermione who didn't look terribly offended.

"Sorry Professor." She blew out a long breath and relinquished her death grip on the carving knife. "That...bureaucrat refuses to admit that Pettigrew is powerful enough to be a serious threat, or that he'd even go anywhere near Hogwarts. Fudge is more concerned with his budget than the safety of one muggleborn." She twisted her face into a mocking sneer. " _We don't want to alarm people Amelia. Think of the voters Amelia. We can't afford to station Auror's around Hogwarts Amelia._ The utter...pillock knows that it's my neck on the line. As long as he isn't seen taking a proactive roll in the matter he can't be blamed. It's all politics." She smiled winningly. "How do you feel about France Hermione? Lovely wizarding school in France, excellent classes."

"No," Hermione said flatly.

"Worth a try," Amelia muttered.

Minerva and Remus exchanged a glance.

"We may have something of a solution to that." Remus hedged. "Minerva couldn't find someone to fill the Defence post at Hogwarts so she asked me."

There was a pause whilst everyone digested that.

"Congratulations!" Hermione and Harry called. Remus chuckled before spluttering as a large black dog rested his paws on his shoulders and proceeded to lick his face enthusiastically, whilst wagging his tail fast enough to cause the table cloth to flutter in the breeze.

"Sirius!" Amelia scolded. "We have guests. Stop kissing Remus,"

The dog snorted and padded under the table to sit by Amelia who was then forced to feed him scraps for the rest of the meal.

Remus smiled happily, banishing the haunted look in his eyes for a second. His ears had gone rather red.

"Between myself and Minerva she should be safe enough. We both know what to look out for."

Minerva nodded.

"Have you considered getting a cat? Nothing keeps a rat away like a feline."

Amelia considered that.

"Actually that might not be such a bad idea. Don't bite my fingers, Sirius." She smiled at Hermione. "Do you like cats?" She asked.

Hermione shrugged.

"I've not had much to do with them. Better than dogs."

Minerva smirked in approval as Sirius barked grumpily.

"Shush Black. Besides she's got those Twins of hers." Hermione blushed slightly. "Peter would have to get through them first."

They suspected it was that, more than anything else, which convinced Amelia not to transfer Hermione to Beauxbatons.

* * *

"I should put a collar on you," Amelia muttered.

"I already know I'm yours," Sirius replied. "But if you insist on putting your mark on me..."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a disgusted look.

"C'mon," Harry whispered, tugging her down the corridor to their study and away from the newlyweds.

Well, they called it a study. Really it was library/playroom that the three of them shared, but Susan insisted that study made it sound like they actually did some work, instead of holding exploding snap tournaments.

"How are you?" He asked, settling the two of them onto the sofa.

Hermione gave a non-committal shrug.

"I'm all right. I mean there's a maniac loose in the country, possibly after me. Otherwise, I'm fine."

"Wow. Sarcasm." Harry leaned into her shoulder and closed his eyes. "How're the Twins dealing with this?"

"Dealing with what?"

Harry opened one eye and glared at her.

"You did tell them about Pettigrew?"

Hermione gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Do I need to tell them?"

"Yes. Merlin Hermione, they care about you. They have a right to know."

"I was kidding. But it's not exactly something I can write in a letter and send to Egypt. They know something is wrong. I told them everything was fine."

"So you lied?"

"Lying is such a technical term. I was still in one piece. Physically I was fine."

Harry rolled his eyes, transferring his head to her lap.

"Cuddly thing aren't you?"

"Sirius says it's because for the first two years of my life I was almost never put down. Either Mum or Dad or Sirius or Remus or Amelia was carrying me. Apparently I was only put down to play on my broom and go to sleep. I am emotionally needy." He fixed her with his most pathetic look. "Love me?"

Hermione laughed, messing up his hair with her hand as she did so.

"Right..."

It was nice to have a brother.

* * *

The moment the Weasleys returned from Egypt, Remus summoned everyone together for a shopping trip. And Hermione meant everyone. Sirius, Remus, Amelia, Minerva, Harry, Susan, Hermione, all of the Weasleys and Tonks.

Amelia pulled Hermione to one side before they were due to leave and introduced her to the nervous-looking witch beside her.

"I've got Aurors patrolling Diagon today. However, you only need to be concerned with one of them. This is Trainee Auror Tonks." The green-haired witch waved. "Officially speaking she's here to pass the personal protection module of her training."

"And unofficially?"

"Unofficially she finished that module months ago, she's Sirius' cousin and she used to babysit Harry and Susan. More importantly, she can blend in."

Hermione looked sceptically at the ostentatious woman.

"Really?"

Tonks cackled.

"Watch."

Her hair began to curl and lengthen, darkening to a brown shade close to Hermione's. Her nose straightened out and freckles appeared across the bridge of her nose. When she was finished, she looked like Hermione's older sister.

"Tonks will be with you all day. You do not leave her side. Got it?"

As tempting as it was to roll her eyes, Hermione refrained. Amelia only got like this when she was being really serious.

"Got it."

Amelia paused.

"Eyes, Tonks."

"Oh right." The witch blushed and her eyes darkened from a bright yellow to a deep green. Amelia strode off to stop Sirius hexing Remus, for refusing to let him buy new robes.

"I'm a metamorphmagus."

"You change your appearance at will?" Hermione queried, pulling apart the Latin.

"Close enough. Sirius tells me I should welcome you to the family." The witch grinned and hugged her. "I hope you know what you've got yourself in for."

Hermione watched Remus sulk in a corner as Sirius danced triumphantly around the hall. Apparently he'd won.

"Me too." She whispered smiling.

* * *

The moment Hermione stepped off the Apparition platform with Minerva she was tugged into two sets of arms and hugged tightly. She smiled as the tug on the bond lessened and for the first time since Pettigrew's escape she felt like things really could be all right.

"Hello." She said pointlessly.

The Twins released her, each beaming down at her. They'd grown over the summer and now stood close to six feet. The freckles on their noses had multiplied thanks to the Egyptian sun and their hair had been bleached, the red interspersed with strands of blond. They looked gorgeous.

Hermione blushed and shook her head willing the though away.

They were her friends.

"Hermione!"

Fred and George were pushed aside before they could say anything and Hermione was gripped in yet another bone-crushing hug.

She seemed to be having that sort of day.

"Hello, Mrs Weasley." She gasped out.

"Molly, dear." The witch released her and looked her over. "You're looking better. Bit skinny though. Been having a nice holiday?"

"Er yes." Hermione stepped back so she was standing with Fred and George. "Professor McGonagall brought me here to do my shopping."

Mrs Weasley brightened slightly.

"I must go and thank her for choosing Percy. He's Head Boy you know. Ever so proud of him."

She bustled off.

"That will _not_..." Fred murmured darkly.

"Be the last time you hear that phrase." George finished.

The Twins tugged her away from the crush and didn't notice Tonks following them closely, pretending to be interested in a poster on the wall. The witch winked at Hermione and held up five fingers.

George dropped a pendant around her neck. It was a small, smooth piece of lapiz lazuli onto which had been carved a woman with wings spread around her.

"That's the goddess Isis..."

"Who Bill reckons was actually a really powerful sorceress..."

"She was apparently in charge of magic and women and she supposed to give you protection."

"Bill put a couple of shield charms on it too."

Hermione smiled down at the stone, familiar with the figure from her primary school projects.

"It's lovely." She turned it over and frowned down at the two cartouches engraved on the back.

"What do these say?"

Fred blushed.

"Well they either say Fred and George, or they are two alternate definitions of the word "bum". Bill promised that they didn't though."

"Although we did put beetles in his soup."

Tonks choked, earning herself a very strange look from the Twins.

Beaming, Hermione tucked it beneath her shirt so it rested against her skin.

"I love it." Tonks burst into a loud coughing fit and Hermione realised their time was up. "C'mon we need to get back to Sirius. He's losing his nut."

* * *

The trio, McGonagall and Tonks, wandered Diagon Alley picking up their school supplies.

Hermione picked up the defence book with approval.

"I'm glad Remus picked a decent book." She told them.

"Wanna burn Lockhart's books?" George offered.

"Hang on. Remus is teaching this year?" Fred looked shocked but not unhappy about that news.

Hermione nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah. Minerva offered him the job."

"He'll be a darn sight better than the last two idiots." The Transfiguration professor muttered.

"Wait, what happened to Lockhart?"

Minerva burst into full-blown laughter.

"When Miss Weasley went missing, we suggested he live up to his boasting and go after the monster himself. He'd been telling us for months that he knew where it was and exactly how to deal with it."

"What happened?" Tonks asked, forgetting that she was supposed to be pretending not to be there.

"He packed his stuff and fled that night. Just as well too, I was ready to feed him to the squid."

Tonks snorted with laughter.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Fred asked, glaring at the older witch.

"And why are you following us?"

"Tonks. I'm Hermione's bodyguard. I went to school with your big brothers, Bill and Charlie. Pleasure."

Fred and George turned identical glares on Hermione who was hiding behind a large tome.

"Hermione..."

"Was I not supposed to mention that?" Tonks asked. Minerva shook her head wearily.

"Why do you need a bodyguard?" The Twins asked simultaneously.

Hermione eyed them warily and sighed, seeing that they weren't going to give in.

"Not here." She said, gesturing around the busy bookshop.

They paid for their purchases and headed for the relative quiet of the Apothecary. Leaving Minerva to browse the aisles, Fred and George hemmed Hermione into a quiet corner away from the other customers. Tonks followed them but developed a sudden interest in a jar of frogs spleens.

"Hermione..." Fred warned.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Look I couldn't tell you earlier and it wasn't the sort of thing I could write in a letter."

George paled slightly.

"That was you, wasn't it? About a week ago. When you told us it was fine we thought it was a curse in one of the tombs."

She sighed.

"I just got a bit scared."

"Scared? 'Mione you were bloody terrified."

"I had a good reason." She snapped.

Fred glared at her.

"Care to tell us? Or are you going to keep lying?"

Hermione winced slightly, tugging on her bracelets.

"I deserved that." She took a deep breath. "Peter Pettigrew. The escapee? There's a very good chance that he's after me."

Fred and George froze.

"How much of a chance?" George whispered.

Hermione winced.

"About a one in three chance?" She hedged.

Both boys paled, George pulling her closer to he could wrap his arms around her. He sighed into her hair.

"Why did you lie to us?" Fred asked quietly.

"I didn't think it was important. I'm fine Fred."

Fred glared at her.

"Do you think I can't tell when you're lying to me? Even if I couldn't I can feel it. You are literally inside my head Hermione, of course, it's bloody important."

He stormed off.

George sighed again dropping a kiss onto her hair.

"He's just worried." He assured her.

Hermione fought back a sob.

"And angry. I can feel it, George. He's furious."

"Yes but not with you."

George stepped away.

"When he's calmed down a bit we're going to have a talk about this okay?" Hermione nodded reluctantly and he grinned at her. "Be good, Twist."

Tonks stood next to her watching the tall redhead walk away. The older witch tugged on her brown ringlets.

"Both of them, eh?"

Hermione blushed slightly.

"Shut up."

"The Weasleys are good people. They'll do right by you."

Hermione frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Tonks pursed her lips, twirling her wand absently.

"You're muggleborn aren't you? Like my dad?"

Hermione nodded.

"Well, that sort of thing doesn't hold the same level of taboo here. It's not unusual for Twins to date the same person. Or anyone really. A lot of wizards view it that the more magic you have in a relationship, the better."

Hermione went scarlet.

"We're just friends." She muttered.

"Right. But still..." She winked down at her. "Something to think about. How about we go and get you a kitten now?"

* * *

Crookshanks was, as far as Hermione was concerned, the best cat in the world. He may not have been the prettiest or the youngest but he had character. He'd been in that pet shop for years and the other animals refused to go anywhere near him. Hermione felt like they were kindred spirits. Evidently Crookshanks did too because she was the only person he hadn't hissed at.

Sirius hated him, Fred and George called him "That monster" and Remus fed him bits of bacon under the table.

Amelia loved him, especially after he brought her a dead rat that he'd killed. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one they were looking for but he got points for trying.

* * *

Fred and George didn't write to her after the trip to Diagon Alley. But they sat together on the train and Hermione counted that as something. Susan had gone to sit with some friends of hers from Hufflepuff, so it was just the trio and Harry.

It was a long journey.

Not only was the weather foul, but Amelia had managed to get Fudge to agree to have Aurors stationed on the train, so the journey was interspersed with Tonks sticking her head through the door and asking,

"Still alive?"

It became rather irritating rather quickly. Harry insisted it was a Black family trait.

Hermione and Harry explained everything Amelia had told them and Fred had finally calmed down.

She sighed, leaning against his shoulder.

"You two aren't going to let me out of your sights this year are you?"

Fred and George exchanged a truly evil grin over her head.

"Nope."

Hermione groaned and Harry patted her knee sympathetically.

* * *

"We have a few new additions to the staff this year. Professor Lupin will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts..."

"Look at Snape." George hissed over Dumbledore's introductions.

Professor Snape was staring at Remus along the Staff table. Even Fred and George, who Snape hated, were startled at the expression on his face. It was beyond hatred.

This was loathing.

For his credit, Remus was quite stubbornly staring out at the students and not paying the potions master any attention.

Harry hissed across the table,

"Dad said they went to school with Snape, remember Hermione? Couldn't stand any of the Marauders."

"Oh."

"And of course, congratulations to our new Head Boy Percy Weasley and our..."

"Told you so." Fred whispered in her ear.

* * *

Remus was a fantastic teacher. Luckily he didn't call on Hermione either which was a relief and didn't care that her cat followed her to class.

Not that that would have stopped Crookshanks.

After a long discussion with Bill Weasley at the wedding, Hermione had dropped Divination and Care of Magical Creatures to concentrate on Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.

"Avoiding the mystic vale are we?" Fred teased as he walked her to her next class.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"It seems like a load of crap to me. Susie was telling me that they spent the first lesson staring at soggy tea leaves. How are tea leaves supposed to know the history of the East India Company, let alone the future?"

A nearby window pane cracked and Fred almost doubled over in laughter.

"Here comes Hermione Granger. Hide your crockery." He gasped out.

She hit him with her book bag.

* * *

_Had it not been for the escape of Peter Pettigrew this year would have been the closest Hermione ever got to normality. Fred and George were sitting their OWLs that year and were, much to the amazement of the faculty, busy studying. Inside Hogwarts, it was easy to forget that a crazed lunatic was slowly making his way towards the school. Up until Halloween of course._

* * *

Hermione collapsed into her seat at the Great Hall.

"Tired?" Harry asked sympathetically.

"Exhausted. The Twins dragged me all over Hogsmead."

Harry laughed.

"Good fun."

She frowned at him.

"What exactly did you do?"

Harry blushed slightly.

"I sat in the Library."

"And..."

"...stared at Luna..." He muttered.

"Have you even spoken to her yet?"

His eyes went wide.

"Are you insane? This is the girl I'm going to marry. I'm can't _talk_ to her."

She gave him a disbelieving stare.

"Oh really?"

"Really!"

"Hi, Luna!" She called brightly, waving over his shoulder. Harry whipped his head around so quickly his neck cracked. There was no one there, except a slightly confused looking Neville Longbottom.

"You are evil." He grumbled, flicking peas at her. The vegetables stopped midway and flew back at him landing in his hair, shortly followed by several more.

"Don't throw things at our Amazon," Fred said reasonably as he dropped into the seat on Hermione's left.

"Can't be good for your health," George added, taking the seat on her right.

Harry had his hands over his hair, glaring at the two of them.

"All right. All right."

"Apologise." Fred said seriously.

Harry glanced pleadingly at Hermione who shrugged. She had no idea what they were up to either.

"I'm sorry."

The carrot that had been heading his way, fell to the table with a thump.

"Better."

* * *

It was a long walk up to Gryffindor tower, especially on a full stomach. There was a large crowd in front of the portrait, so large that it filled most of the corridor. Harry and Hermione couldn't see over it.

"Can you two see anything?"

Fred frowned.

"Some thing's happened to the Fat Lady." George said before he was pushed aside by Percy.

"Let me through! I'm Head Boy. Out of the way!"

"And again." Fred muttered, hand on her shoulder.

There was a hush and then Percy spoke again, his voice tense.

"Has somebody called the Headmaster yet?"

Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall arrived two minutes later, followed by an out of breath Argus Filch.

"Did anyone see what happened?" Dumbledore called over the crowd.

"Oh, I did!" A voice cackled.

Hermione saw Minerva take in a deep breath through her nose and let it out very slowly.

"What exactly did you see, Peeves?" Dumbledore asked with more patience.

"Face all covered in scars." Peeves widened his eyes for effect. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves hung upside down from a chandelier, grinning ghoulishly. "Terrible problem that rat Pettigrew."

* * *

Dumbledore sent the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall. Fred and George didn't let go of her, almost carrying her between them as though she might be stolen away from them.

Hermione herself was pale and quiet.

He had gotten that close and now they could be entirely certain about who he was after.

When Dumbledore conjured sleeping bags, Fred grabbed three and hauled them over to the side of the room away from the others.

"Stay with Susan." He whispered to Harry. Harry sent a worried glance to Hermione, who still hadn't spoken a word but did as he was told, tugging Susan away from the other Hufflepuffs.

"You all right?" George asked quietly, settling in his sleeping bag.

Hermione shrugged slightly, staring up at the starry ceiling.

"I don't know." She whispered.

Fred and George shuffled closer to her and Hermione settled into her usual place between them. They hadn't slept next to each other since her first year, something in Hermione telling her it was inappropriate to sleep next to two fifteen year old boys, but she soon settled back into her usual spot.

"It's just...I thought I was safe here." She whispered.

Fred shrugged, wrapping his arm around her.

"We did too." They whispered.

* * *

**Updated 2020**


	13. Potter Revealed

Luna Lovegood was never alone.

The trio took her status as the future Mrs Potter very seriously.

Sirius had given Hermione and Susan a list of things to look out for. Hair ruffling, blushing, forgetting to finish sentences, drooling...all signs of the presence of the future Mrs Harry Potter.

Because, after all, a Potter always knew. Even an adopted one.

"I remember Charlus." He'd told them, grinning. "He was James' Dad. Great man. But he loved his wife to distraction. Even after almost thirty years of marriage he still blushed every time Dorea smiled at him. Worshipped the ground she walked on. He'd get this look on his face when she came into a room. Like someone had just slapped him in the face. The first time I saw it, I thought it looked familiar. Took me a while to realise that it was the look James got whenever he saw Lily. He'd known since the sorting ceremony in first year. Of course, he was a complete pillock about it. Acted like a right di... Anyway, my point is, if Harry says he knows, he _knows_."

So it wasn't unusual to find Hermione studying next to the tiny Ravenclaw in the Library or George wearing a wreath of flowers around his neck.

The girls who made fun of Luna often found themselves the victims of terribly similar pranks as the ones they'd pulled on the small blonde.

So when they woke up in the Great Hall that morning, it didn't come as much of a surprise that she'd gone to sleep across their feet.

* * *

"Goggles!" Hermione demanded, hair already plastered to her head as she ducked out from under the stands. "Now!"

Relieved that someone was doing _something,_ the team handed over their Quidditch goggles and she applied water-repelling charms.

Wood beamed at her as he looked out through his now de-fogged goggles.

"I could kiss you, Hermione."

The Twins scowled.

"Don't,"

Oliver looked at their menacing expressions and kissed Angelina instead.

* * *

(Transcript sourced from the private collection of Lee Jordan)

" **And it's a replacement for Gryffindor. Chaser Alicia Spinnet, lovely girl, makes way for replacement Hermione Granger. This is Granger's third year on the team, very good friends with the Weasley Twins and the seeker Harry Black. She is one of Hogwart's rare substitute players and a bit of a wild card. Never played in a match before, interesting to see how she copes in such adverse conditions.**

**And play resumes as Madam Hooch tosses the Quaffle. Quaffle goes to Johnson, Johnson passes to Bell, possession goes to Applebee who passes to Macovoy...and Granger's nabbed it from right under her arm. Ducks past Anthony Rickitt, around Macovoy, almost knocks Diggory from his broom on the way past, excellent bludger to the head there, by Beater Weasley-not sure which one- Will she...Yes, she does! Quaffle sails right past Hufflepuff Keeper Herbert Fleet and it's ten points to Gryffindor, bringing them back into the lead! Come on you gorgeous girl! I should say third years, Granger** _**is** _ **single and...URK!"**

" **WEASLEY YOU CANNOT AIM AT THE COMMENTATOR!"**

" **Just a joke, no need to get possessive. And play resumes...Hang on has Diggory seen the snitch?!"**

* * *

"Wotcher Hermione!"

Hermione frowned at the tall blonde standing in front of her.

"Tonks?" She asked.

The witch nodded and greeted the Twins and Harry.

"Madam Bones sent me. I'm here on personal protection again."

Fred and George scowled.

"And what are we? Garden furniture? We can look after Twist."

Tonks rolled her eyes and led the way to the town.

"When it comes to fighting an adult wizard, yeah, you are."

Hermione linked arms with the Twins to stop them storming off.

"Thank you for coming." Hermione sighed, glancing around the snowy white landscape. There was a north wind blowing and it went straight through her layers of clothing.

Tonks shrugged but kept scanning the surroundings.

"I'm sorry to ruin your visit but can we stick to the main shops and keep this as quick as possible?"

Hermione noticed the witch had her wand out and under her thick coat wore her Auror's armour. She spent almost the entire visit bundled between the four of them. Still, Christmas shopping somehow managed to get done. Sirius had given her some pocket money, which she hadn't expected.

If Hermione tried hard enough she could remember her father doing a similar thing. Every Saturday Hermione would be presented with a two-pound coin. Of course, she couldn't spend it on sweets like most children would, so she'd save up for books. She'd had a large jar under her bed, which she had been in the process of filling.

There had been a large book of fairy tales in the window of a nearby bookshop and she had been attracted to it because it was a proper book. All of her other books were new ones, bound in paper with glossy covers and modern pictures.  
This one, however, was real. It had been covered in white leather and the title was embossed in gold, italic writing. There had been pictures of course. It was a book of fairy tales. But they were called plates, her mother had told her and were beautiful drawings of incredible detail, each protected with a layer of tracing paper. The pages had been heavy and dark with age.

Every child has a dream present and that book had been Hermione's.

Of course, that was all gone now.

Tonks led them through Hogsmead, occasionally pointing out the other Aurors. The village was doing a roaring trade and Hermione even managed to buy the Twins presents in secret.

* * *

There was screaming.

That was the first thing Fred was aware of.

The second was the acrid scent of smoke twisting under his nose.

The third was the amount of sheer terror pouring into his mind that didn't belong to him.

By the time the Twins got down to the Common Room, there were girls pouring down the staircase. Fred could hear several seventh years and Professor McGonagall shouting " _Aguamenti"_

"What happened?" He asked, grabbing the nearest girl by the shoulder. It happened to be third-year Parvati Patil, a fact he had vaguely registered as she had shared a room with Hermione.

She wiped the sleeve of her nightgown across her face. She was tear-stained and soot streaked, her hair in disarray.

"Peter Pettigrew..." She gasped out. "He was in our room...and he set fire to the bed...He ran away when Lavender screamed."

George gulped and shoved Fred out of the way.

"Whose bed?" He demanded.

The tears started again.

"Hermione's!"

* * *

They got the fires out quickly enough. Fred and George were reduced to pacing at the foot of the girls' staircase, waiting for Hermione to appear. She'd calmed somewhat but that wasn't much comfort.

The seventh years emerged, shaken and damp from splashing water. Dumbledore and the other Heads of Houses had already arrived, as had the House Elves who were handing out hot chocolate and blankets.

Minerva appeared, at last, looking both scared and furious, followed by a very quiet Hermione.

She was wrapped in a spare blanket, but what little they could see of her pyjamas were scorched and burnt. Her hair was singed, the ringlets falling unevenly around her face, which was the sort of red Fred suspected was more burn than flush. George grabbed her as soon as she was in reach and bundled her in his arms, tucking her close to his body. She had grown recently, Fred realised absently. He moved in front of them, protecting her from the view of the rest of Gryffindor Tower.

"What happened Minerva?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

Minerva, after checking Hermione was safe with the Twins, glowered at the Headmaster.

"Peter Pettigrew happened. He got into the girls' dormitory and set Miss Granger's bed curtains alight."

There was a gasp from the assembled students and George sat down in a nearby chair, pulling Hermione into his lap. She tucked her head into the crook of his neck and he could feel her panicked breathing against his skin. Fred stroked her hair, trying not to lose control of his emotions.

"I cannot let this go on any longer Dumbledore. A girl nearly died tonight. Had the House Elves not come to fetch me she would have! Either you improve the security around the school or I will send the students home, by myself if I have to."

"You won't be on your own." Sprout declared, folding her arms. The short Hufflepuff scowled at Dumbledore and moved to stand supportively by McGonagall, who nodded in appreciation.

"Furthermore," Minerva continued. "I'm sure Amelia Bones would be very interested to know that a mad escapee has managed to break into a supposedly safe school containing her niece and step-son!"

"Perhaps this conversation would be better served in my office?" Dumbledore said, blue eyes twinkling.

Minerva's gaze was flinty.

"Perhaps. Miss Granger needs to go to the Hospital Wing." She smiled at the Charms professor. "Filius, if you would...?"

"Of course."

George stood up at that point, still holding Hermione, who just curled closer to him.

"You two had better come as well," Flitwick added, leading the way.

Dumbledore watched them go, frowning slightly.

* * *

Flitwick led them through the halls to the sealed Hospital Wing. They were ushered inside by a pale Madam Pomfrey who was rattled enough not to shoo the Twins away as she flicked Hermione with diagnostic spells.

"Mild smoke inhalation, burns..." She muttered, summoning a small jar of ointment.

Hermione winced as the witch smoothed ointment over her face and arms. The alarming red glow faded from her skin, leaving her her usual pale white, freckles standing out in sharp relief. The Twins left only to let her get changed before they settled back on either side of her.

"This is a sleep potion," Pomfrey said, waving the cup in front of Hermione, who watched it dully. "I want you to drink it. You've been through a terrible ordeal and you need to rest." The matron waited until Hermione had drained the potion before leaving.

Understandably she didn't close the curtains behind her.

"Are you all right?" George whispered as they both lay on their sides, looking at her.

It was like she was surrounded by a mirror image.

Hermione's eyes were already closing but they sharpened slightly at his question.

"I can remember." She breathed, hollowly. Her eyes closed. "I remember how he killed them."

Neither twin slept that night.

* * *

_I remember the aftermath of that night well. Whilst Hermione, Fred and George recuperated in the Hospital Wing, the staff were summoned to the Headmaster's office._

_We relocated the third-year girls to the Ravenclaw dormitories for the night as they were closest and provided them with extra beds. Dumbledore was sitting down behind his desk, doing his best to ignore the truly glacial stares, Minerva, Pomona, Remus and myself were all sending him. Remus was almost beside himself that he'd been so close to Pettigrew and he'd slipped right by him._

" _This cannot go on." Minerva stepped forward, folding her arms."The lives of the children in our care are at risk."_

" _I am aware Minerva but what exactly do you suggest I do? Pettigrew shouldn't have been able to get inside the Common Room let alone up the girls' staircase."  
_

_"I believe I may have an answer for that, Professor." Professor Snape raked a hand through his hair. "I interrogated the painting, to make sure that it truly was Pettigrew. Apparently he had that week's passwords. Some idiot and I suspect Longbottom, had written them down on a piece of paper."_

_There was a knock at the door and Amelia Bones stepped through, flanked by several of her Aurors, many of whom I recognised as ex-pupils.  
_

_"Dumbledore. Pettigrew was here?"  
_

_Dumbledore nodded._

" _Right. Kingsley and Dawlish search the corridors, towers, hidden passageways. You two search the grounds. If he's still here I want him found. You know what to look for." The Aurors left and Amelia turned back to Dumbledore. "What exactly happened?"_

" _It appears Pettigrew got into the Gryffindor dormitories and set a third-year girl's bed alight. The girl survived, I'm told she wasn't badly injured." He assured her.  
_

_"Wasn't badly injured? She shouldn't have been at risk at all!" Amelia breathed in deeply through her nose to calm herself. "The girl, was it Hermione Granger?"  
_

_"How did you..."  
_

_Amelia snarled._

" _I told Fudge to tell you! I told him. But apparently my recommendations mean very little. You read the report when we arrested Peter?" Dumbledore nodded, many of the staff looking on in confusion. "Hermione Granger is the muggleborn whose house he had broken into that night. He's targeting her in particular. I'm stationing Aurors around the castle and I'm cancelling all access to Hogsmead. All mail will be screened prior to arrival. As well as that I am requesting," Her voice grew hard. "That you close the wards. Seal the school. All students are escorted to and from classes. Any sign of a rat and you capture it. We are dealing with an animagus, that'll be how he got past the warding on the girls' staircase. Finally, you get rid of that bloody painting before I destroy it myself!"  
_

_"With all due respect Madam Bones, this is not your school..."_

" _Dumbledore how do you think the parents will feel when they find out about this. Malfoy will be furious. Longbottom will have your head. Her grandson was in that tower. What if that fire hadn't gone out? There are a lot of important people out there trusting you with their children. They are going to want to see solutions. Not complacency. So you let me do my job and I'll let you do yours." She turned to Minerva. "Professor if I could have the help of the staff in combing the school I would be most grateful."  
_

_Minerva nodded.  
_

_"Of course."_

_I suspect Dumbledore spent a long time staring at nothing that night._

* * *

"Poor little Loony Lovegood. How long _is_ it until they drag your pathetic father to St Mungo's?"

The girl tightened her grip on her knees, bringing them closer to her, muttering under her breath.

"OI! MALFOY!"

Harry and Hermione strode down the corridor, glaring at the blonde Slytherin. Luna scrambled to her feet, moving to hide behind Harry.

Malfoy grinned, delighted.

"Ah, mudblood Granger. I suppose Loony _would_ be your friend. The best you can get isn't it? Honestly Black why do you associate with this scum? I guess my cousin just doesn't know any better."

Hermione advanced on him, wand raised. Crab and Goyle backed off slightly, proving they weren't actually as stupid as they looked.

"Scum?" She laughed. "Is that the best you could come up with Malfoy? Luna is twice the witch you'll ever be. So why don't you leave her alone and I won't hex you?"

"As if you could." Malfoy sneered at her. "Run along little mudblood."

Harry only just caught the near-silent sticking charm Luna sent at Malfoy's shoes. No one else seemed to notice.

"Malfoy unless you wish the entire school to know how much of an inbred twerp you really are, I wouldn't even try it with me." She turned her back on him.

"Off you go. It's not like you even have any real friends." Malfoy taunted. "Those twins must keep you around for something though. Oh, I've got it." He smirked. "You're their whore!"

Hermione spun on her heel and punched Malfoy straight on the nose. The blonde's head snapped back and cracked off the stone wall behind him. The sticking charm caused him to topple over and he stared up at her, blood streaming down his face.

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him.

"Told you not to try it."

* * *

"Did you really punch Malfoy?" Fred demanded.

Hermione looked up from her table in the Common Room, conscious of the excited buzz spreading across the crowded room.

"Yes." She whispered, looking slightly ashamed.

The Twins stared down at her, amazed.

"How...?"

"Why...?"

Harry scowled.

"You should have heard what he said to her. If she hadn't punched him I would have."

Hermione's quill caught fire as she narrowed her eyes, evidently thinking back to that afternoon. She cursed and dropped it, George stamping on it to put it out.

Fred and George exchanged a glance.

"We need to go see Flitwick," Fred muttered.

Hermione glanced at them.

"It's just accidental magic. It's nothing serious." She frowned at them. "Isn't it?"

George tugged her to her feet.

"In first year, yeah maybe. But you're a third-year and this is still happening. Please Amazon?" He pleaded.

Hermione begrudgingly followed the Twins out of the portrait, leaving Harry staring at his homework.

"It's all very well being the Boy-Who-Lived " He mumbled, staring despondently at his potions essay. "but will anyone ever help you with your potions essay? Noooo..."

* * *

_There were many times during their stay at Hogwarts when they turned up outside my door. This wouldn't be the last._

_It wasn't the strangest visit either._

* * *

Hermione followed the Twins into Flitwick's office, hoping they couldn't see how nervous she really was.

"How can I help you?" The diminutive professor asked.

Fred gave a long sigh.

"Hermione can't control her magic."

She scowled. That made it sound like she had no control over _anything_.

"What he means," George amended, slightly more in tune to the flair of irritation he felt through the bond. "Is that Hermione keeps having bouts of accidental magic. And we can't go to the Hospital Wing because of the Bond."

Flitwick frowned.

"Do these bouts accompany flairs in emotion? Or are they truly uncontrollable?"

Hermione sighed and gave up.

"When I get irritated or annoyed or angry things...break. It's been nothing unusual Professor."

He nodded slightly, gesturing for them to sit.

"So it is specifically negative emotions?"

Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know. As far as I'm aware."

He summoned a small packet of seeds from a bookcase.

"I'm just going to try a small experiment, Miss Granger. If you could open your hand?"

Hermione did so and stared at the small brown seeds he dropped into her palm.

"Wonderful. Now I want you to close your hand around them and focus."

"On?"

"Things that make you happy. Memories, sights, sounds, places..." he faltered slightly and glanced at Fred and George. "Friendships."

Hermione nodded and closed her eyes.

Things that made her happy...

The Library, it reminded her of home.

Her parent's surgery.

Spending the summer with Harry and Susan.

Sugar Quills.

New parchment.

She focused on that near-permanent tug in her mind. The two tiny slices of Fred and George which she could usually block out. They were both worried, slight undercurrents of tension running through the Bond.

The Twins made her happy. They were her best friends, the first people who she had met properly in the magical world. The first people who had ever gone out of their way to get to know her. They'd stuck with her through the bonding and her temper and exams and everything else. She didn't know what she would do without them.

She loved them.

Hermione blushed slightly as she felt the bond twitch and the feeling of worry lessened somewhat, replaced with genuine happiness.

Fred leaned closer into her side as George wrapped an arm around the back of her chair.

She opened her eyes.

"May I?" Flitwick asked.

Hermione emptied the seeds into the saucer he held out. The charms professor smiled happily.

"Look at what you did."

Hermione leaned closer and saw that each of the seeds had sprouted, tiny green shoots reaching for the ceiling.

"That lays something to rest in my mind. I think I have a possible explanation." He set the saucer down on his desk and returned to his chair. "Were it that these outbursts focused solely on negative emotions I would say that you had a highly charged if unstable magical core."

"But it isn't..."

"Is it?"

Flitwick sighed.

"Well...not exactly. My closest estimation is that is a by-product of two magical bonds." He frowned at their confused expressions. "Let me explain. Your bonds create magic. They make wizards more powerful, which is why they're so sought after. Now Miss Granger is the epicentre of two bonds, both of which are flowing into her, but not perhaps, flowing back. When the bond is complete this will be shared out much more evenly, but at the moment she is left with more magic than she can effectively channel."

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked.

"Use it up," George suggested quietly. He winced when they looked at him. "Well, it's like you said. She has excess magic. If she uses it up it won't be able to escape."

"That's a very interesting suggestion." Flitwick got to his feet and pulled a book from one of the lower shelves in his office. It was leather-bound and heavy. Hermione almost dropped it when he handed it to her.

"These spells are extremely advanced. I don't expect you to be able to do them. In all honesty, I don't expect many people to be able to do them. However, _attempting_ to do them is exhausting. My suggestion would be to perhaps make one attempt a week." He fixed the Twins with a glare. "I am relying on you two to make sure she doesn't do anything dangerous. Make sure she runs all spells by you first. You'll have a better judge of what might be too dangerous." He paused, "Perhaps the Patronus Charm might be a suitable first attempt."

They made to leave.

"One more thing Professor?" Hermione asked. "You said when the bond is complete. Why isn't it complete just now?"

Flitwick sighed.

"I...don't know." Fred and George frowned. "I may know more about this area than Minerva but my knowledge is finite." He smiled up at them. "If that is all, I had better escort the three of you back to your Common Room. Can't be too careful."

* * *

Fred and George looked at each other, well aware that Hermione wouldn't be surfacing to talk to them for some time, so engrossed was she in her new book.

"Why do you think he lied?" Fred asked quietly.

His twin shrugged.

"I don't know. What's there to lie about?"

* * *

"Where's Hermione?" George asked, dumping his bag at the foot of his bed. He rubbed his shoulder, where he'd caught it on a desk that morning.

"Meeting with Trelawny. Some first-year gave her a note." Fred said, not really paying attention. He sucked on the tip of his quill. "Do you know when to pick Burbleberries?"

"Three-quarters moon." He paused.

"Hey, Fred?"

"Yeah?" Fred screwed the top onto his inkwell and grinned triumphantly at his finished Herbology revision sheet. Their last OWL was tomorrow and one of them had to pass. Fred had drawn the short straw.

"Hermione didn't take Divination."

Fred paled.

"Accio Map!" He shouted. The map flew out from under George's pillow and into his hand.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He muttered, scanning the spreading ink lines for any sign of her.

"There!"

Two small labels were heading along the rarely used passageway which led from the fourth floor to the grounds.

"Here." George shoved the Map at Fred. "You go get Lupin. Follow after me."

* * *

"OI PETTIGREW!"

As battle cries went, it wasn't great. Pettigrew dropped the unconscious Hermione, who he'd been dragging and flicked the no doubt stolen wand.

" _Imperio!_ "

Everything went cloudy for George.

* * *

It was hard to connect this...man with the boy who had supposedly gone to Hogwarts with Sirius and Remus. He was short and emaciated, with bald patches scattered across his head. What little hair he had was matted and filthy.

The most distinguishing feature was the scars though. It looked as though his skin had melted and Hermione watched in nauseated fascination as the light shifted over them.

Amelia thought she had done _that?_

"You worthless piece of shit." He screamed at her. George was slumped, unconscious next to her. He'd stolen their wands and left her at the foot of the wall. "How dare you defile the Dark Lord's school?"

Hermione flinched, shifting back so she was closer to the wall. She could only pray that Fred was on his way.

"I should have killed you first. You dared to show off the magic you had stolen."

"What?" She whispered.

Pettigrew gave a feral grin.

"You don't remember? I saw you through the window. You were using your magic." He cackled. "I showed your parents what happens to those who encourage freakishness!" His eyes narrowed. "I think it's time you pained the same price. _Frangere!"  
_

Hermione screamed as a jet of white light hit her wand arm and a loud crack echoed around the room.

Pettigrew laughed.

"Let's see you levitate books like that." He spat and raised his wand again. _"Sectum sempre!"._ This spell caught her left leg, open a gash across her calf. She screamed again, sobbing into her robes. She cradled her broken arm to her chest.

Pettigrew snorted in disgust.

"Pathetic. A real wizard wouldn't cry."

The real wizard left just as George began to stir next to her.

"This your idea of a rescue party?" Hermione whispered, careful not to bring Pettigrew back. She swallowed back another bout of tears.

George almost smiled.

"Sorry, Amazon."

She was white and there were tear tracks down the side of her face. George wrapped himself around her as much as he could without jarring her injuries. His head was too woozy to do much more.

"Fred's on his way," George muttered. "I sent him to get Lupin. Where are we?"

* * *

They watched the tree flail.

"How do we get into the tunnel?" Fred, looking wide-eyed for something he had missed in his last five years of schooling.

Lupin took a deep breath.

"Like this."

He took several steps back and then ran full pelt at the tree. Just as Fred thought he would run into the flying branches, he dropped into a crouch and slid the last six feet on the wet grass, coming to rest next to the trunk. Very deliberately he pressed a knot on the tree and the branches froze.

"Come on!" Lupin called.

Fred didn't need telling twice.

* * *

"Oh, you're awake." Pettigrew grinned at George. "It's a pity you're a blood traitor." He pressed the tip of his stolen wand to George's cheek and used it to cut open his cheek. "Such pure blood." He added dreamily, watching as it bled. "Don't know why you're with this mudblood?"

"Because she's my friend." George snarled.

Pettigrew kicked him and then paused, staring.

"Aren't there usually two of you?"

" _Stupify!"_

Remus' charm hit it's target and Pettigrew slumped.

" _Incarserous._ " He added, binding the criminal. Fred ran straight for George and Hermione.

"You two okay?" He asked, pulling George to his feet.

"I'm fine. 'Mione's not."

Hermione gave a short scream as Fred grabbed her broken arm. He let go very quickly.

"Broken." She gasped out.

"That leg doesn't look too good either," Remus muttered. " _Ferula."_ Thick white bandages wrapped themselves around her arm and leg. " _Episkey._ " George's cheek sealed up.

"We need to get out of here." Carefully Fred and George got Hermione to their feet, supporting her between them.

"He killed them." She said, staring at the bound fugitive. "He killed them because of me. Because he saw me!"

Remus flinched.

"We always wondered why he was in that house, that night."

The fear was leaving and in its wake was anger.

"That _bastard_ killed them because he saw me doing magic through the window."

Fred wrapped his arms around her middle, stopping her from lunging at Pettigrew.

"What about him?" Fred asked, nodding towards Pettigrew.

"We take him to the Aurors," Remus said, levitating him. "They'll know what to do with him."

* * *

Hermione had known Remus was a werewolf. Sirius and Amelia had explained it to her that summer and told her not worry about it. So it just became background information, Remus Lupin, likes chocolate, turns into a wolf once a month.

But she'd never expected to be running away from him on the full moon, panting desperately to keep up with George.

Pettigrew had long since wriggled free of his chains and all they could do now was run.

There was a bust of wand light and a whimper. Professor Snape stepped between them and Remus and raised his wand.

"Leave Lupin." Remus sniffed at him and visibly recoiled. There was a loud scuffle as something nearby moved in the forbidden forest and Remus bounded after it. Snape didn't say anything, just shepherded them up to the castle.

"You complete and utter fools." He hissed. "How stupid are you to go outside when there is someone like Pettigrew on the loose. The arrogance of Gryffindor's astounds me."

Hermione swayed on her feet as the adrenaline wore off. Fred caught her and held her up.

"That's fifty points from Gryffindor, each..."

"Professor!" George pleaded.

"Detention until the end of term..."

"PROFESSOR!" Fred bellowed.

Snape swelled.

"How dare you speak to a teacher like that?"

Fred spoke right over him.

"It was Pettigrew."

"What?" Snape frowned at Hermione and George, both of whom were bloodstained, and bandaged.

"What happened to Granger?" he said, as though he'd just noticed.

Fred rolled his eyes.

"I've been trying to tell you. Pettigrew kidnapped Hermione. We went after him and took Professor Lupin with us. He saved their lives."

"And where's Pettigrew now?" Snape asked, glaring at them.

"He escaped, Professor," Hermione muttered.

"We're going to see the Headmaster."

* * *

Hermione was terribly aware of the holes in their story. They couldn't tell Dumbledore about the Map or about the Bond. Luckily they took Hermione's injuries at face value and sent all three of them to the Hospital Wing, whilst the Aurors were called.

Snape did not return the points to Gryffindor.

* * *

"What do you think will happen to Pettigrew?" Fred asked. George had already been healed, so they were just waiting for Hermione to be given the all-clear.

Hermione snorted.

"He's escaped so far. I think Remus scared him though."

"Do you reckon he'll come back?"

Hermione shrugged.

"He's mad. He could do anything."

Fred sighed.

"Never a quiet year with you around is it?"

"Makes you wish you didn't know me, doesn't it?" Hermione teased.

"Nah." They smiled. "Not really."

* * *

Snape glared at Sirius with all the loathing and hatred of an arch-nemesis and crossed the hall, robes billowing.

"What are _you_ doing here?" His carefully enunciated speech made it sound as though Sirius' presence was an intended slight against his person. Idly Hermione wondered if it was possible for a person to inject more venom into such an innocent sentence. If the professor's reaction to Lupin had been bad this was nothing compared to how he obviously felt about her adoptive father.

"I helping Moony move, Sevy Wevy." Sirius once again proved he was as mature as a nine-year-old. "It seems a certain member of staff couldn't keep their mouths shut."

Snape smirked.

"Well we can't have dangerous animals running around, now can we? This is a school after all. Although _you_ may not have been aware of it during your time here. But we have children to keep..." He shot Lupin a disgusted smirk. "safe."

"Oh is that the reason?" Sirius' voice was deceptively light. "I thought it was a petty jab at old grudges." Hermione saw his fists clench. "Something a grown man should have let go." Lupin reached out and grabbed Sirius' elbow.

"Don't Padfoot." He murmured.

"Oh, indeed Black. Let your guard dog hold you back."

This could have escalated very quickly had Harry not arrived at that precise moment, flanked by the Twins who took up their customary positions on either side of Hermione. Fred, sensing the worry coming through the bond, placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently.

"Hey, Dad. Professor Lupin." Harry paused, "Professor Snape." He acknowledged grudgingly.

A curtain of black hair whirled as Snape broke off his staring match with Sirius to glare at Harry.

"What did you say?" He hissed.

Harry blinked in uncertainty and glanced at Hermione who shrugged in confusion.

"Um, I said hello to my dad and.."

But Snape cut him off and returned his glare to Sirius.

"He's yours?"

"He's mine," Sirius claimed confidently, but Hermione could see a certain hint of apprehension to his features.

Professor Snape seemed to be trying to match Harry's features to Sirius'. And then Harry glanced up and met his gaze and the potions master flinched.

"Her eyes." He breathed. "I thought it was just a coincidence but he's got _her eyes_."

Sirius cursed.

"Look we can explain..." Remus stated but Snape wasn't for listening. He laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound and sent chills down Hermione's back, Fred and George tugging her nearer, away from Snape.

"Did Potter know?" He sneered. "Did Potter know that she was cheating on him with his best friend? His self professed brother. Did pathetic Potter know his wife, precious Evans was a whore?"

"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MY PARENTS LIKE THAT!" Harry bellowed, emerald eyes blazing. Hermione had never seen him so angry. Oliver's chaser training kicked in and she only just managed to grab the back of his robes and stop him from charging the professor.

"Harry no..." She pleaded.

She looked to the others for support but no one was paying any attention to the raging teenager. The silence from his words spread around the crowded Entrance Hall like wildfire, leaving stunned faces and disbelieving glances.

Sirius and Remus swore in perfect tandem, effectively breaking the silence. They each grabbed a shoulder, pulling Harry back and began to steer him towards the exit, Harry fighting desperately to get to Snape.

"Come on Harry. He's not worth it. We need to go." Sirius cast a disgusted look at the potions master.

"In her memory, I'm furious that a man she defended up until the day she died, her oldest friend, could believe such a thing of her. Lily Evans was a good woman and she always will be. I won't allow you to sully that." He turned to Hermione. "Can you pack Harry's stuff?"

Hermione just nodded.

"Thank you, sweetheart."

With a crash, the oak doors closed and the fragile silence that had held the students in its sway was broken. Whispers began to break out. Hermione clutched the Twins hands, the trio standing in shock as they watched a decade of secrecy fall down around them.

"Is he?"

"Does that mean..."

"Potter?"

"Potter."

"Harry Potter!"

Without a word spoken Hermione, Fred and George turned on their heels and left for the relative privacy of Gryffindor tower.

* * *

Hermione boarded the train a day later armed with two trunks and her Twins. Minerva had already told her she'd be spending the holidays with Sirius and Hermione could only assume that this hadn't changed as her Head of House had been run ragged around the castle.

Dumbledore had cornered them earlier that morning and demanded to know whether they'd been aware of the truth. They had, of course, denied it, but Hermione wasn't sure that he believed them. Luckily Minerva had arrived and sent them off before he could question them further.

They found an empty compartment and got settled, Hermione sitting on the bench across from Fred and George. It was unusual for such happy people to seem so solemn and it unsettled her.

"What's going to happen now?" George asked, fingers fiddling with his wand.

Hermione sighed, but a knock interrupted her. She waved for Susan to join her and the red-haired witch settled onto the bench next to her.

"Hey, Susie. Have you heard anything?"

Susan sighed.

"Sort of. I got a letter from Aunt Amelia this morning before we left the castle. She's picking us up from the station by the way. Apparently the press has camped outside of Bones Manor."

"Why are they there?" Fred asked.

"Well, officially that's where she and Sirius live. They couldn't really put down our house could they if it's a secret? So they shouldn't be a bother for us unless of course, they turn up at the station looking for us."

"Why would they be looking for us? We're nobody." Hermione argued.

"Speak for yourself." George countered.

"Imagined fame does not count."

Susan sighed. "You three are the best friends of Harry Potter. I am the adopted cousin of Harry Potter and if we're being technical Hermione is the adopted sister of Harry Potter. They might think we're important. Not to mention we're being picked up by Aunt Amelia."

"And they'd be after her why?"

"Well her wedding wasn't exactly quiet, was it? And anyone who goes looking for Harry's adoption certificate will find Amy as the secondary guardian."

Hermione frowned.

"Do you think that they'll call her up about this at work?"

Susan shrugged.

"I seriously doubt it. For one thing, if you're being technical she didn't do anything illegal. She was very careful not to. If a guardian makes a certain choice about their charge there is little anyone, including Dumbledore, can do to change it." She giggled at Hermione's impressed expression. "What? All Auntie talks about is the law. You should listen more at the dinner table."

Hermione chuckled.

"That's true. Last summer I learned the thirty-seven ways to incapacitate a wizard, without a weapon, over a curry. I've never see Sirius look so pale."

Susan shuddered.

"I still can't look at a naan bread without hearing Auntie ranting on about testicles."

Fred and George winced.

"Quickly changing the subject..."

"Will Harry be okay? What will happen to him?"

The two girls looked at each other.

"He's going to get a lot more famous." Hermione nodded.

"And popular. The papers will gossip and harp. Everyone will expect him to be this..."

"Chosen one." Susan supplied.

"Thanks. Chosen one. Anyone who bears a grudge against the Boy-Who-Lived will be after him. And to everyone, he'll be Harry Potter, the legend who defeated Lord Voldemort..." Susan winced. "Get over it, Susan. But really he's just..."

"He's just Harry." Fred finished. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Mum's going to go ballistic. So will Ginny for that matter." He froze as an unsettling thought occurred to him. Hermione glanced up as his distress rebounded through the bond. "What about Twist?"

"What about me?"

"Don't glare at me it's a valid question. She's Harry's sister..."

"Adopted."

"Whatever. Won't they come after her to attack him?"

"I doubt it," Hermione smirked at him. "Sirius is only my secondary guardian. Unless they dig as they will with Harry's then they shouldn't find it."

"Hmm."

"Added to that, Minnie knows the witch who deals with the paperwork, apparently she's an ex-Gryffindor prefect. She promised to bury the paperwork so deep a nargle couldn't find it."

"Oh." Point proved Hermione retrieved a book from her bag and blocked them out.

"So..." Susan asked, guessing correctly that Hermione wouldn't surface for hours at least, "Are you two going to the Quidditch World Cup?"

Fred grinned.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes." Susan, ever the Hufflepuff, frowned. "That's why I asked."

George sighed.

"One day Bones, we'll find your sense of humour."

"Be nice to my little sister." Hermione murmured as she turned a page.

Fred chuckled and threw a deck of exploding snap cards at her.

* * *

They arrived in King's Cross Station late that evening, the train having been held up by an emergency Auror check. The twins helped carry the trunks and Hermione was barely off the train before she was swept into a bone-crushing hug. She was sure her feet were dangling comically in the air, as Mrs Weasley clutched her close.

"Hermione dear, how are you?"

"Fine Mrs Weasley." She gasped as she was set back on the ground, trying to surreptitiously rub some feeling back into her bruised ribs. The twins scowled with comic fierceness from either side of her.

"Oh yes. Thank you, mother."

"Here we are..."

"Her own flesh and blood..."

"And she passes us over for our very attractive best friend." Fred and George spun on the spot and refused to look at her.

Molly Weasley simply rolled her eyes.

"Yes yes hello dears. Have you seen Ron? Or Ginny?"

"We shan't tell you."

"Hmmm. Hermione, dear, how are you getting home? I won't have you walking across London on your own."

"That would be where I come in." Amelia Black strode up to them, Susan close behind her. She waved at Hermione.

"The Ministry decided, what with Pettigrew still on the loose that Miss Granger could use an official escort home. As I was picking up Susan anyway, I volunteered."

Mrs Weasley looked like she wanted to argue but Amelia's stern gaze convinced her otherwise.

"Very well. Have a good summer dear. I hope we'll see you soon. Say goodbye, boys."

"No."

"We refuse."

Hermione glared up at them, tapping one foot.

"And why not?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you Granger." Fred kissed the top of her head as George hugged her.

"See you Amazon."

They grabbed their trunks and strode off.

"Don't even ask," Hermione said to Amelia, who'd opened her mouth.

"Wouldn't dream of it." She shrank down their trunks.

"How's Harry doing?" Susan asked, as soon as they left the station.

Amelia pursed her lips.

"Harry has locked himself in his room and refuses to leave. My husband has done the same thing and Remus is wallowing in guilt and eating an impossible amount of chocolate." She rubbed her temples. "I myself, am one reporter away from casting an unforgivable. How was school?"

Hermione shrugged and let Susan ramble on. They walked briskly into a side street and Amelia unlocked the large black car, which was parked in a never-in-a-million-years-can-you-park-here zone, that were so commonly ignored in London. Strangely none of the patrolling traffic wardens seemed to have noticed it.

"We're driving," Amelia announced, unnecessarily.

There was enough room in the front for all three of them, and what should have been a long and arduous car journey, was actually quite short. Although the only thing on the radio was Celestina Warbeck.

They arrived in front of Potter Manor and piled out of the car. Amelia stretched happily, basking in the early evening sunlight.

"Come on." She led them into the house and Hermione and Susan headed for their rooms.

After dumping her trunk at the foot of her bed, she changed out of her school robes. Somehow she'd managed to bring home not one but two old Quidditch jerseys, with WEASLEY embroidered on the back. She slipped one over her head and changed into jeans. Barefoot she padded down the hall to and pounded on Harry's door.

"Open up!"

"No."

Hermione scowled and stepped back before leaping, shoulder first, at the door. It opened before she got there and she collided with a very surprised looking Boy-Who-Lived.

"Ouch." She muttered.

They disentangled themselves and Hermione pushed her hair out of her face.

"Aunt Amy says you're being silly."

Harry glared at her.

"I have a good reason."

She snorted and crossed to Harry's bed, sitting on the edge of it, folding her legs beneath her.

"Do you?"

Harry's glare only got fiercer.

"Hermione, I told Professor Snape, who I was, in a room full of people, in the most gossipy school in Europe. I broke a secret Sirius has kept for almost eleven years, and all because some git was taunting me." He sighed and sat next to her. "I should have let him send me to Durmstrang."

Hermione wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"I'd say that's a fairly good reason. You lost your temper defending your mother's honour. If you can't defend that then what can you defend?" Hermione paused. "Besides a secret that big couldn't be kept forever. We've been on shaky ground since first year. It's a miracle no ones seen your scar yet."

Harry grunted.

"As for telling Snape who you are, well he already knew that."

Harry peered at her curiously.

"What do you mean?"

Hermione smiled gently.

"Harry you are the same person you were last week. A different surname doesn't change that. I didn't become a different person when McGonagall adopted me. Changing your name doesn't change who you are. And neither..." She tapped the scar on his forehead. "Does that."

She waited quietly.

"When did you get so wise?" Harry murmured.

She shrugged.

"My best friends are you, Fred and George. Someone had to have some sense in them or we'd have fallen apart years ago."

Harry laughed.

"Want to go get some dinner?" He asked, getting to his feet.

"Yes. I'm starving. It's just us and Susan. Amelia had to go back to work."

They retrieved Susan, who'd been writing a long letter to Ernie McMillian, which she wouldn't talk about, and headed for the kitchens.

The House Elves were only too happy to provide the teenagers with more food than they could possibly eat, although Harry made a decent attempt. They collapsed in their study and curled up on the sofas.

It was about ten o clock when the owl arrived, fluffed up against the cool night air.

"Hello, Athena." Hermione greeted.

**Dear Hermione,**

**I hope you arrived at Sirius' all right. Amelia said she'd meet you at the station. I'll come around when I can but Dumbledore wants the staff at the school to make arrangements for next year. I'll be there for the Quidditch World Cup and to escort you to Diagon Alley.**

**My best to Black and Bones,**

**Minerva.**

Hermione sighed and passed the note to Harry.

"She's still in professor mode." He pointed out and passed it to Susan.

"Doesn't say anything about the Potter Fiasco."

Harry blanched.

"Please tell me you haven't named that."

Susan gave a grin that was remarkably evil for a Hufflepuff.

"Would I do that?"

"Yes." Hermione and Harry said.

There was a loud crashing from the hallway and they scrambled to their feet, struggling to pass through the doorway at the same time.

It was Remus, standing beside the shattered remains of a tea tray, clutching the evening edition of the Prophet.

"What is it?" Susan asked cautiously.

Wordlessly he turned the paper so they could read the front page.

* * *

**POTTER REVEALED!**

**The Boy-Who-Lived, Harry James Potter, had been living under our noses all along. Previously thought to be living in France, Mr Potter's whereabouts were revealed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Astonishingly Mr Potter is none other than Harry Black, love child and only heir to Sirius Black. Mr Black, who recently married the head of the DMLE, Madam Bones, has yet to give a statement but...(cont on pg 2)**

* * *

Harry groaned and banged his head off the wall.

"You three had better go to bed," Remus said, hollowly. "It's late."

"I'm sorry, Remus."

The wizard shrugged.

"It's not your fault Harry."

Harry looked like he wanted to argue, but turned and left. Helpless Hermione and Susan followed his lead, leaving the dejected werewolf in the hallway.

* * *

**Updated 2020**


	14. Of Course I'm a Girl

Letters from Fred and George were irritatingly vague that summer. The only assurance they cared to give was that they would see Hermione at school in September.

Hermione suspected they were in trouble for not telling Mrs Weasley's Harry's true identity and tried not to lose her temper.

The media storm over Harry died down by the end of July and was replaced with Ministry sponsored coverage of the upcoming World Cup. And, as predicted, the enquiry into Amelia's actions crumpled as the Wizengamot reluctantly ruled she hadn't acted outside the law. The move to remove her from her office similarly failed under the twenty percent drop in crime since she'd taken the post.

Still Harry, Susan and Hermione spent much of that summer alone. Remus dedicated most of his time to searching the library at Grimauld Place. He got around taking Hermione with him by almost never leaving the place. The werewolf hadn't forgiven himself for chasing after them at the end of term and wouldn't talk to anyone. Sirius, despite his claims to not blame Harry, had buried himself in the company's next performance of "Much 'Ado About Nothing" which was due to premier next week. Apparently the director was still in shock from seeing him around so much.

As for Amelia, she was busy arranging the security measures for the World Cup and had taken to sleeping at the office. All of which would have been made much easier had Bertha Jenkins not gone missing.

Minerva was busy at Hogwarts with work she wouldn't talk about and only sent the briefest of letters.

So while their family fell apart around their ears the only adult the three teenagers had any regular contact with was Tonks. As a result of which their summer consisted mainly of pick-up games of Quidditch, exploding snap tournaments and Tonks' increasingly lewd jokes about the Twins.

* * *

Three days before they were due to leave for the World Cup Hermione and Susan were woken by a bleary eyed Tonks and a disgustingly chipper Amelia, who dragged them out to muggle York.

"Dress shopping." Amelia trilled.

The girls exchanged wary glances, both vividly remembering their bridesmaid dresses.

"Why?" They asked cautiously.

Amelia smirked.

"Can't tell you." She sing songed, shepherding them into the nearest dress shop. "Besides I thought it would be nice for us to spend some time together. Just us girls."

Tonks groaned loudly, earning herself a smack around the head from her boss.

"Constant vigilance, Auror Tonks." Amelia barked, heading for the nearest rack of taffeta nightmares.

"Oh yeah." The pink haired witch mumbled. "Merlin forbid we get attacked by coat hangers."

* * *

The extended Black family arrived at the camp site four days before the match in a generally bad mood. Hermione because the Twins had completely halted all communication and the only thing she could get through the bond was a general sense of concentration. Remus and Sirius because they were both sleep deprived and hung over and Amelia had forced them-somewhat vindictively- into the noon day sun.

Harry stopped dead in the middle of the camp site and Sirius walked straight into him.

"Damn it Harry..." Sirius frowned and moved in front of the boy to stare at his face. "Remus, come look at this."

Remus strode over, shaking out his threadbare jacket.

"Oh." He said staring at Harry who was still unresponsive.

"What?" Hermione asked curiously.

Sirius guffawed with laughter, clutching at his knees for support.

"We know that look."

"Know it?" Remus snorted. "We lived with the look for nearly eight years."

"It's the look James got when Lily walked past. Every damn time. So whose the lucky girl, Prongslet?"

Harry blinked slightly.

"What?"

Hermione pointed to a nearby fir tree. Hanging upside down from one of the branches and wearing a brown pinstriped suit and trainers, was Luna Lovegood.

Sirius stared.

"Really, Harry?"

Harry stamped on his foot, which would probably have been more effective if he wasn't wearing sand shoes.

"I love her!" He yelled passionately, uncaring of his audience.

"You've barely spoken to her." Hermione pointed out sensibly, tugging them of them further away so as not to cause a scene.

"That doesn't matter." He grumbled stubbornly.

By this point Sirius and Remus had collapsed into heaps on the ground, laughing their heads off.

"It's JAMES all over again!" Sirius hiccuped and wiped tears away from his eyes.

* * *

Hermione was going to fetch water when she ran into them.

"Granger!" Draco snarled, evidently remembering his broken nose. His father rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Won't you introduce us, Draco?"

Draco scowled, so Hermione saved him the horror of having to say her name.

"Hermione Granger."

"Lucius Malfoy. Charmed, I'm sure." He smirked. "Tell me, what exactly are you doing here? I was under the impression muggles couldn't buy tickets."

Hermione clenched her fist around the kettle.

"I have been staying with Lord Black and Lady Bones this summer. They invited me along."

Lucius gave an imperious sniff.

"And they've got you fetching the water. How...appropriate. Come along, Draco."

"Mudblood." The blonde boy muttered as he passed.

"Inbred." She returned.

* * *

The tent had come as something of a surprise to Hermione, but Sirius' inability to follow the rules didn't. At least they didn't have peacocks tethered outside. Their tent had two floors, enough bedrooms that Hermione only had to share with Susan and a kitchen which was being manned (or elved) by Filly. According to Remus, the last thing they wanted was Amelia or Sirius in the kitchen and there was no way he was cooking for six people.

The first three days passed quite happily. As the fields filled up with families, the place got busier and busier. Hermione and Luna took to walking the long rows of tents, occasionally stopping to talk to those they knew and laugh at those wizards who hadn't quite caught on to the idea of muggle dressing. At least Luna's outfits fit the criteria, although Hermione wasn't quite sure where she'd managed to find a shirt emblazoned with the Union Flag. Or the three-meter long scarf, for that matter.

On the day of the Cup Hermione spotted a flash of something impossible.

"Come on." She said, towing Luna, who was staring at the treetops.

Hermione ducked into the crowd, bypassed the man selling Omniscopes and tapped the red-haired man on the shoulder.

He turned and frowned down at her, looking very tanned and somewhat scarred.

"Hello." She said breezily. "I don't suppose you're a Weasley, are you?"

The man nodded and stuck out his hand.

"Charlie Weasley." He winked. "Pleasure."

Hermione shrugged and shook it.

"You're Fred and George's big brother?" She asked.

He rolled his eyes.

"That depends on what they've done now."

"Nothing." Luna chimed in, now watching a man who'd tied a marrow to his head. "But then neither has she. It's entirely the problem."

"Hello Luna." He greeted with the sort of affection reserved for old friends of one's little sisters.

Charlie turned back to Hermione.

"Tell you what? Come with me and I'll take you to our tent. You can surprise them. "

Hermione grinned maliciously and nodded.

The Weasleys' tent was small and unadorned, at least on the outside. A balding man was sitting outside, playing with a fire and looking like he was having the time of his life. Ron was sitting next to him, along with Bill who Hermione hadn't seen since the wedding.

"Who's this then?" The man with the matches asked. "Afternoon Luna."

Luna doffed her fedora.

"That's Hermione," Ron said brashly. "She's..."

Whatever it was Ron was going to say, it was lost in the cacophony of a pair of sixteen-year-olds throwing themselves out of a tent.

"TWIST!" Fred shouted, lifting her off the ground.

"AMAZON!" George yelled, snatching her from Fred to twirl her around.

"BOYS!" pleaded Mr Weasley, as Fred knocked two chairs over.

Hermione didn't care what anyone was yelling. She had missed them and actually being near them again was like having a heavy weight removed from her back.

"Hello." She whispered into George's shoulder.

"Hi." They murmured.

There was a round of throat-clearing from the three men and Fred and George dropped her back onto her feet, all three blushing deeply.

"So you're that _Hermione_." The man with the matches said, beaming. "I'm Arthur. Their father."

The Twins glowered at him.

"We're going for a walk." Fred decided.

Hermione smiled at Luna.

"You're welcome to join us."

Luna laughed.

"No I'm not. But thank you for pretending."

Before Hermione could offer her assurances that she _was_ wanted, Fred and George wrapped their arms around her shoulders and steered her away.

"Don't do anything Percy wouldn't do!" Charlie called after them.

* * *

Charlie looked at Bill in amazement.

"That's the girl they've been going on about all summer?" He asked in amazement.

Bill nodded and frowned.

"Ron, do they hang around a lot together at school?"

The youngest Weasley son shrugged.

"Yeah. I suppose. The three of them and Harry. But especially Hermione. They've been friends since we were in first year."

"Tiny thing." Arthur mused, wandering into the tent.

"They're mates," Luna told him seriously.

Charlie stared down at her, amused.

"Like dragons?"

She shrugged.

"If you must. Excuse me, Chichi." Luna strode off leaving the bemused Weasley clan behind her.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Hermione asked quietly. The Twins shrugged, linking hands with her.

"We wanted to surprise you." Fred murmured, starting through a gap between two tents.

"Mum wanted us to invite you..." George added, falling into line behind her. "But we figured you'd be going with Harry. Mum's been going spare about that, though."

"The whole Potter business. Ginny was worse." Fred grimaced, dodging a large wizard wearing a floral dress. "She's completely mad about Harry Potter. Mum was always telling her those stories about him when she was younger."

"Badgered us for details constantly." George laughed. "Asked Ron to steal one of his shirts for her."

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked suddenly.

They paused.

"Not sure really," George said. "Where's your tent?"

Hermione sighed and led them towards the ostentatious Black residence.

"Casa del Noir." She murmured, pushing through the flap. Fred and George glanced at her in confusion.

"Its Spanish." She explained, calling out for Filly. "Is anyone home?" she asked carefully.

The elf shook her head.

"They has all gone out for the afternoon. Will you be needing anything, mistress?"

Hermione smiled.

"No. Thank you, Filly."

They collapsed onto the nearest sofa, unconsciously curling in on each other. Hermione rested her head on Fred's shoulder and he sighed, fluffing her curls.

"So what have you two _really_ been up to?"

They launched into a lengthy explanation of their expanding stock list, trick wands, making a bet with Ludo Bagman, sending Percy dragon dung, and the argument they'd had with their mother earlier that day.

"You should have seen her..." George moaned, eyes closed, tugging her a bit closer.

"A whole summers worth of stock in the bin," Fred added.

Hermione laughed.

"At least she didn't search your rooms."

Both Twins stilled.

"Did you remember to hide the box?" They asked in unison.

"Nimue's frilly..." George trailed off, clenching his jaw.

"So how's your summer been?"

Hermione shrugged.

"Quiet. We spent a lot of time with Tonks."

"The witch with the cool hair?"

"Mmmm." Hermione tugged on her pendant. "Everyone's been...depressed."

"Can't blame them." George linked his fingers around her wrist. "Dad was saying he felt sorry for Amelia. Apparently the Ministry has been a riot this summer."

Hermione snorted.

"What time does that match start?"

"Not for another four hours."

Hermione settled down between her twins and nodded.

"All right."

* * *

"I can't believe we won!" Fred crowed, wide-eyed as he walked back to the campsite.

"It was...there aren't words." Harry agreed looking the happiest he had all summer. Hermione chuckled fondly, smiling contently. The match _had_ been amazing.

"Tell you what, Arthur," Sirius said, slapping the older man on the back. "Would it be okay if the Twins came and spent the night in our tent?" Hermione's cheeks went pink and Fred and George got the expression that meant they were listening intently. "They can bunk with Harry for the night. It'll keep them all out of _trouble_."

This time even the Twins blushed.

"I'm going to kill him." Hermione told Amelia quietly. The older witch smacked the back of Sirius' head with her hand and the raven-haired wizard grinned unrepentantly. Remus just smiled faintly.

"I'm sure that'll be fine. I can pick the boys up in the morning?"

Sirius nodded and Arthur led the rest of his children away amid Ron's protests that this "wasn't fair." and Ginny's worrying staring after Harry.

* * *

"Get up!"

Hermione blinked up at Amelia, who moved across to wake Susan.

"The campsite is under attack. Death Eaters." Hermione frowned, swallowing back the fear that rose and followed her Aunt down to the main sitting room, where they were joined by the boys. "Fred and George, I'm putting you two in charge. Keep them safe and _don't_ lose Harry. The last thing we need is them getting their hands on him."

Sirius darted back into the tent.

"There's no time." He barked. "They've reached us. FILLY!"

The House Elf appeared with a crack, looking terrified by the tone in Sirius' voice. "Take them to the manor and lock the wards."

"We can help." Hermione protested.

"No, you can't." Sirius hissed. "We're going to do what we can. Just get out of here."

Filly grabbed Fred's hand and snapped out them away.

The group staggered onto the floor of Potter Manor.

"What do we do now?" Susan asked, looking scared. Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders and sighed. Fred and George were pale.

"Our family..."

"They're still there."

"Filly...Can you go back and get the Weasley's?" Hermione asked, desperate to help her worried Twins.

Filly shook, clutching at her clothes.

"I is sorry, misses. But the wards are closed. Master's orders."

"So we can't leave then...can we Floo?"

Harry nodded.

"If your house is on the main system, you're welcome to send a message. Travelling's out though."

The Twins stumbled off to the nearest fireplace, presumable to send word to their mother.

"What do we do now?" Hermione asked, feeling useless. Her family were out there fighting for their lives and she was stuck here. Helpless.

Harry shrugged.

"We wait."

* * *

None of them slept that night.

Remus sent a patronus at around seven, a large silver wolf loping into the room. All it told them was that they, and the Weasleys', were safe. It wasn't until almost noon when the wards unlocked and Sirius and Remus stumbled in from outside.

"Hi."

Sirius collapsed face-first onto the nearest sofa, Remus sinking into a heap on the floor.

"What happened!" Harry demanded.

"Death Eaters." Sirius mumbled.

"We reckon it was all the excitement. They felt like celebrating." Remus sighed. "Amelia's clearing it up. She won't be home for a while. Why are Fred and George here?"

"I sent 'em here." Sirius looked up and frowned. "Why are you all in your pyjamas?"

"We didn't go to bed." Hermione handed Sirius a large mug of coffee from the tray Filly had just brought in. He accepted it gratefully, breathing in the steam. "And they stayed with us last night, remember?"

"Oh." Remus sighed again.

"Are our family okay?" The Twins demanded.

"Arthur is fine. One of your brothers took care of Ron and...Ginny? The rest stayed to help. We'll take you home as soon as we can."

The Twins nodded reluctantly, linking their hands with Hermione's. She could feel the worry through their bond. It was acidic and clinging. She hated it.

* * *

"Introducing Professor Moody..."

Harry frowned, drawing her attention away from the Headmaster.

"He was Amelia's predecessor." He murmured. "Used to come by the house when I was a kid. Paranoid bastard though."

* * *

"Mr Potter." Moody barked. "Nice to finally meet you."

"It's Black," Harry replied sharply. He'd been fielding questions all day about being " _The Chosen One"_ and it had rather affected his temper.

From several pairs over Hermione could see he looked visibly uneasy.

"What's wrong?" She asked the second they got out of there.

"Moody's met me before." He frowned. "How come he doesn't remember me?"

"Maybe it an imposter." She suggested, ducking past a group of twittering Ravenclaws.

Harry snorted.

"No one could get the jump on Moody."

"Hmmm. Perhaps he really is mad then. Either way..."

"Don't trust him." Harry mumbled.

* * *

Hermione wasn't talking to the Twins and neither of them could work out why. They had tried as well, spending several classes trying to figure out what they could have done to anger their bond mate.

She stormed past them, nose buried in a book. Suits of armour jumped out of her way, fearful of her wrath.

"Oh, no you don't." George whispered and snagged an arm around her waist, pulling her back into the secret passageway. Fred closed the portrait behind them and sealed the three in darkness.

"Let me go, George." She snarled, pulling away from his chest. He let her go, watching her cautiously.

George scowled.

"How'd you know it was me?" he complained.

Fred lit his wand and she glared up at them in the dim wandlight.

"I always know when it's you." She sighed. "Partly because you two are the only ones stupid enough to try that." George snatched the wand she'd been pulling from her pocket away and held it teasingly out of her reach.

"Why have you been avoiding us?" Fred demanded.

Hermione gave him a mulish expression and didn't answer.

"Don't make us tickle you."

She gritted her teeth.

"Why did you try to enter?" She asked at last.

"The Tournament?" Fred stared at his brother in confusion. " _That's_ what this is all about?"

"It was a bit of fun," George answered carefully, sensing how angry she was.

"And if you'd gotten in? If you'd managed to circumvent the age line?" She bit out.

"We'd have competed?"

She snarled at them, backing away as they stepped towards her.

"You never think! Do you? It's not something that's _funny_ ," She hissed. "People have died in this competition. _Died_! And I..." She drew in a shuddering breath. "I can't lose you too. Let me go!" She added grumpily.

Fred realised that between the two of them they'd pinned her against the wall. Neither Twin moved back.

"We're sorry."

"We didn't mean to worry you."

She scoffed.

"But it's perfectly safe..."

"NO!" She snapped, drawing herself up to her full height, which still wasn't very tall. "It's not. Dumbledore isn't infallible and _someone_ is going to get hurt!"

"Twist..." George pleaded.

"Don't." She shoved back at them with her magic and they hit the opposite wall of the passageway. She collected her fallen book and the wand George had dropped and headed for the portrait. "Just don't."

* * *

Fred and George would have been relieved the champions were drawn that night, had it not been for the fourth.

"Binding magical contract?" She repeated.

Harry nodded woefully.

"Binding magical contract?" She hissed. Several window panes shattered. "BINDING MAGICAL CONTRACT?"

Harry flinched. He'd never seen Hermione quite this angry before and he certainly never wanted to again.

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" He asked, desperate to calm her down.

She glared at him.

"Harry, Dumbledore knows you didn't put your name in the Goblet of Fire. He _knows_ someone is setting you up for heaven knows what and as far as I'm concerned he's lining you up for the slaughter. So no. I'm _not_ overreacting." She sighed. "I think you vastly underestimate how much I care for you."

Susan made a sound of agreement, twisting her fingers together. Both his sisters were worried about him. Hermione reached out and snagged his wrist, dragging him from the disused classroom. The Twins and Susan got up to follow, faces still pale.

"Where are we going?" He asked jogging to keep up with her. Hermione flicked her braid over one shoulder and kept marching.

"To owl Sirius." She bit out.

* * *

At lunchtime, there was a commotion in the Entrance Hall. Harry and Hermione just happened to be passing when the large wooden doors burst open, revealing a crowd of people.

"I'm so embarrassed." Harry muttered dramatically, hiding his head in her shoulder.

The group was headed by Sirius, wearing dark robes and an expression which was serious enough to make the nearest group of Durmstrang students back out of the way. He was flanked by Remus, looking equally furious and Amelia who wore full Auror battle armour and whose blond hair streamed behind her, sparking occasionally. Following on behind were three women, two of which Hermione didn't recognise and one of which was Tonks.

"Who're they?" Hermione whispered as McGonagall darted forward to intercept them.

"The tall woman on the right of Tonks, with the brown hair is Andromeda. She's Sirius' cousin and Tonk's mum."

"And the other?" she asked, pointing at the very pale blond woman, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere other than there, but was managing to look irritatedly graceful none the less. Draco, who'd been lurking nearby, was eyeing her with something akin to horror.

Harry snorted in disgust.

"That's Narcissa, Andy's sister. Sirius said she used to be all right until she married Malfoy."

"She's Draco's mum?" Hermione asked amazed.

He nodded grimly.

"Normally she won't have anything to do with us. Sirius must have called a House Meeting. She's magically obligated to be here, until such time as Sirius disowns her. Don't know why he never has."

Minerva began to lead the group across the hall.

"It's a show of solidarity." Harry whispered. "He's brought the whole House out to show he's not kidding."

"Your family is mad."

Harry laughed darkly.

"Our family." He corrected. "If I'm Sirius' son by blood, then _you_ are his daughter by magic."

"By piece of paper." She corrected.

"By everything bar genetics."

"What do you mean?"

He stared at her.

"The contract you signed. Both your parents are now purebloods from very old houses. They claimed you, well McGonagall did, a Heir apparent. The claim needed to be irrefutable in cases of succession so the magic makes it so. By law and...well magic, you are the _pureblood_ daughter of Sirius Black and Minerva McGonagall."

"Harry!" Sirius barked, finally spotting him.

"Gotta go."

* * *

"Could they get you out off it?"

Harry shook his head and collapsed on to the nearest squashy armchair.

"There's nothing they could do. Dumbledore completely refused to help. Sirius is...very angry."

Hermione nodded slowly.

"Then we'd better start training you up, hadn't we?"

* * *

"Honestly! There you are. We've been looking for you for ages!" Harry blinked as the door to the broom cupboard swung open and Hermione reached in and grabbed him. "Excuse us." She hissed venomously to the reporter and tugged him out. She shut the door behind them. " _Colloportus_!"

"Thank you!" Harry grinned as they walked off. "You do know you've locked her in there right?"

Hermione frowned.

"Have I? I thought I was just complying with school rules. All supply cupboards should be locked at all times to prevent thefts."

"How did you know where I was?"

"Colin." She said grimly. "He hung around for a bit and when he saw you being dragged off, he ran to find someone. You're lucky it wasn't Susan he got."

Harry shuddered. Susan's protective traits could be terrifying.

"Let's just get out of here."

* * *

"I think I'm going to be sick," Hermione whispered.

"You think _you're_ going to be sick?" Harry asked incredulously. " _I'm_ the one facing a bloody dragon."

"Sorry." She mumbled, walking him down to the champions' tent. "It'll be okay. You've learnt the charms and everything should go fine."

"Who are you trying to convince?"

"Anyone who'll listen."

* * *

"Please, be all right." She begged, her nails digging into her face. They'd been practising summoning charms for ages, but even so Harry only really began to get it right last night...there was no guarantee...

Neville cheered as the Firebolt soared overhead and into Harry's waiting hand. Screaming herself hoarse, Hermione watched her brother dodge jets of dragon fire, sometimes with only millimetres to spare. Fred and George were holding tight to her hands, both of them watching in a sort of morbid horror.

"Look at that!" Bagman yelled. "Will you look at that. Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg." Hermione stopped listening at that point and threw herself at Fred. She hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek before she did the same to George. Cheering loudly, she watched as the Horntail was subdued by the dragon keepers.

* * *

_If she had been paying more attention to her bondmates, she would have noticed that neither twin seemed to be capable of speech at the time. Minerva pointed it out to me, through no small amount of giggling._

* * *

_Rarely in all my years as a teacher have I seen the student population so unsettled. Hogwarts, by tradition, didn't have dances or other school events. The Founders felt that is distracted from the true nature of the school and produced unnecessary social tension between the students. They were, of course, correct. Students became distracted, classes were easily sidetracked...in short, the student population almost ceased to function. Almost._

* * *

"So who are you going to ball with?" Susan asked, dropping into the free chair.

"What ball?" Hermione asked distractedly, staring at her Runes translation.

Susan's eyes widened.

"The Yule Ball. The social event of the year. Hermione, do you live under a rock all the time?" She slapped her hand down in the centre of her parchment. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Unfortunately."

Hermione began to write around the hand, leaving ink smudges on Susan's fingers. Susan sighed.

"I wish someone had told me that having a sister would be such hard work." She said conversationally to Luna, who was watching them with wide eyes and batting at something neither of them could see.

"I was going to go with Luna," Hermione said eventually. "We haven't got dates. Who're you going with?"

"McMillian. What do you mean? Of course Luna's got a date. She's going with Harry."

"Not she's not," Luna muttered faintly.

"He hasn't asked her." Hermione provided helpfully. "I think that dragon must have hurt him more than he realised."

Susan sighed.

"And no ones asked you? Not even the Twins?"

"Boys aren't interested in me and _why_ would they ask me?"

"Victor Krum seems interested."

Hermione and Susan stared at the blond girl.

"What are you talking about?"

Luna pointed and Hermione twisted in her seat just in time to see a burly Bulgarian seeker duck behind a bookcase.

"He was reading the same book you were reading yesterday."

"It's an interesting book." Hermione defended, cheeks slightly pink.

"Right. Because _everyone_ is interested in the Treaties of the Fae Courts from the seventh century." Susan rolled her eyes.

"He's big enough not to be scared away." She whispered to Luna.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked, frowning as a curl escaped her braid and hung in front of her eyes, the tip brushing against the wet ink on her parchment.

"Don't you know?" The Hufflepuff asked cautiously.

"Evidently not."

The two girls exchanged a knowing look which almost caused her to snap her quill.

"What!"

"Well, about Fred and George."

"What about them?"

"You have noticed how possessive they are of you? Haven't you?"

Hermione gave her a disbelieving stare.

"Look, any time a boy shows the slightest bit of interest in you, those two scare the hell out of them. Why do you think Harry and Neville are the only two boys who'll talk to you?"

"You're insane." Hermione decided.

"And you're in denial." Susan countered. "Still Victor Krum is never going to talk to you if we're here. Come on, Luna."

"Jealousy is often attributed to Finklestein's." Luna murmured gathering her books. "Perhaps you'd better feed them some grapefruit. That should clear the infection."

Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to her homework.

* * *

"Hey Hermione?"

Hermione held up one finger to indicate that they should wait and finished the sentence she was writing.

"Yes?" She asked, looking up.

Angelina and Katie smiled nervously at her and sat in Luna and Susan's recently vacated chairs.

"What?" She asked eventually when the worried looks started to get old.

"We wanted to talk to you about something." Katie chewed her lip, gesturing for Angelina to continue.

"You see, Fred and George asked us to the Yule Ball and we wanted to make sure it was okay with you before we said yes."

Hermione stared at them.

"Why would I care?"

"Well, you're their girlfriend and..."

"What?"

"You're their girlfriend," Angelina repeated as though she was slow. "And even though you're not going we still thought we should check that you don't mind us going with them. As friends." She clarified, misreading the fury building in Hermione's eyes.

Hermione drew in a deep breath and let it out very slowly, causing Katie to wince.

"Who told you I was their girlfriend?" She asked through gritted teeth.

The two chasers exchanged a look.

"Well, no one really. It was just really obvious. Were you trying to keep it a secret?" Angelina frowned. "How come you're not going to the dance anyway?"

"First of all..." Hermione said with deceptive control. "I am going. Second of all...I AM NOT DATING FRED AND GEORGE!"

Several heads whipped around, including one strangely relieved looking Victor Krum. Hermione mouthed an apology to Madam Pince who was glaring at her and turned back to the sixth years.

"So you're okay with us saying yes?" Katie ventured.

"Yes." Hermione ground out.

"Well, we'll just go tell them then..." Angelina got to her feet staring at the younger girl. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Hermione stared down at her homework.

"Who they date is of no concern of mine." She said, dipping her quill into her inkwell with slightly more force than was probably necessary. She was grateful that neither girl mentioned it.

* * *

"May I sit here?"

Hermione wondered idly if someone had put a high powered Notice-Me charm on her that morning. At least it wasn't Susan coming back for the umpteenth time to quiz her about the Ball.

"Feel free." She murmured, not looking up.

She worked in silence for a while until she became aware that, whoever it was, wasn't actually turning the pages of the book in front of him. She glanced up through her hair and saw, for the second time that afternoon, Victor Krum turn pink.

"Are you following me?" She demanded.

The seeker shook his head.

"I vas...reading." He held up the book as proof. Hermione glance at the title and saw, with some amusement, that it was indeed the same copy she had been perusing yesterday.

"Enjoying it?" She inquired, setting her quill down.

"Ya."

Considering it was an incredibly dry tome about historical laws, Hermione rather doubted it.

"Vhat is your name?" Victor asked.

"Hermione Granger."

She held out a hand and almost jumped out of her skin when he raised it to his lips and kissed it.

"I am Victor Krum..."

"I know." She smiled, cheeks slightly pink. "Everyone knows."

"But you are da first, I think, not to care?"

She cocked her head to the side.

"Perhaps."

He nodded slowly.

"We haf met before? Haf we not?"

"The Top Box." Hermione nodded. "You came up there when you finished the match. You are a very good player."

Victor scowled slightly.

"I do my best. Those twins...they are not yours?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed.

"If one more person asks me that today..." She growled.

"I just vanted to check." He assured her. Hermione noticed that he still hadn't let go of her hand and whilst the sensation wasn't unpleasant, it was mildly unnerving. "It is impolite to ask a vitch vho is already taken."

She stared at him.

"Well I'm...not taken." She replied faintly.

"Vould you like to attend da Ball with me?" He asked gruffly, cheeks darkening again.

"You hardly know me." She pointed out.

"You are the only girl who has not fainted vhen I talk to her." He stated gruffly. "I vould like to take a pretty _girl_ to ze ball. Not a fan."

"So you're settling for me?" Hermione asked slowly.

Victor frowned for a moment before getting to his feet.

"Vould you like to take a valk? Around the lake?"

Hermione stared at her homework and realised that she no longer cared.

"Might as well." She said eventually, packing up her books.

* * *

Surprisingly Victor Krum turned out to be fairly good company. They spent most of the remaining afternoon walking around the grounds, discussing history and the differences between Bulgaria and Britain. So when dinner time came Hermione was in a rather good mood and had quite forgotten that she was mad at the Twins.

"Er...Hermione?"

She glanced up from her cauliflower cheese and stared at the quite determined expression of Ron Weasley.

"Yes?" She asked curiously.

"Listen, you're a girl."

"Am I?" Hermione yelped and stared at him. "Oh, thank you for telling me. I can't believe I hadn't noticed in the _last fifteen years_."

"You're welcome."

How could someone who'd lived with Fred and George for so long be so unaware of sarcasm?

"Anyway, you're a girl and I need a date for the Yule Ball. I figured no one would go with you so you were probably free. So how about it?"

"I'm sorry?" She said in amazement. "What do you mean no one will go with me?"

"Well, you're not that pretty are you. I could do worse, I suppose. Eloise Midgeon for example." Ron beamed at her. "So will you go with me?"

Hermione's eyes were glacially cold and across the table, Harry winced.

"No. I already have a date. Besides I wouldn't go anywhere with you if you were the last stinking human on the planet."

Ron rolled his eyes.

"Look you don't need to make up a date just because Fred and George won't go with you. Honestly, it'll look a bit pathetic, won't it? They've both got dates and you'll be all on your own."

Hermione reached for the first thing that came to hand, which happened to be a jug of pumpkin juice and tipped it over his head.

"Leave me alone." She hissed, raising her wand. "Before I decide to find out if morons are flammable."

Luckily for Ron, Seamus Finnegan tugged him away before she could test her theory.

"And on the subject of idiot boys..." She hissed, turning to Harry. "Why haven't you asked Luna yet?"

Harry went pale.

"Well...I...It's complicated.

"Then uncomplicate it. She thinks you don't care and if you don't ask her soon I'm going to find some tall, dark and handsome Bulgarian to sweep her off her feet. Got it?"

"Fine!" Harry spat, getting to his feet and storming off.

* * *

When Fred and George walked into the hall five minutes later and saw the glare she was trying to set the table alight with, they did the sensible thing and walked straight out again.

Some things just aren't worth facing.

* * *

Christmas swung around faster than anyone had expected. She woke to find a small pile of presents at the foot of her bed and the sound of intense giggling coming from Lavender and Parvati.

"How long have they been at it?" She asked Fay Dunbar grumpily.

Fay sighed.

"Since six." She whispered, tugging a pillow over her head. "Some Christmas."

Laughing Hermione bundled up her presents and left the dormitory, heading for the boys' staircase. She met Harry, who was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, halfway up and they both walked up to the sixth year boys dorm.

Lee Jordan was awake and heading out the door, which left Hermione to wake the Twins. Harry had taken one look at the unoccupied bed and collapsed onto it, curling into a ball. There was fresh snow outside, it'd fallen sometime in the night and Hermione collected as much as she could from the window sill and made it into two balls, which she lobbed at them. The Twins shrieked (although Fred would later claim they bellowed.) and sat bolt upright in bed, wiping the snow from their eyes.

"What did you do that for?" George complained.

Hermione blinked.

"When did you two start sleeping topless?"

Fred smirked.

"Does it matter?"

"What...? Er...no." She blinked again and tore her eyes away, moving over to shake Harry awake. "Presents, Harry. Wake up."

"Go 'way, Mimi."

"If you ever call me that again, I will curse you."

* * *

Hermione took her dress down to the Hufflepuff dormitories, where she, Luna and Susan were going to get ready.

"I don't think I'm very welcome here." She murmured, eyeing the other Hufflepuffs warily.

The Hufflepuffs still hadn't forgiven Harry for being Hogwarts second champion.

Susan glared at her housemates.

"Don't worry." she said loudly. "We are _nice_ people down here."

Several fourth years began to look somewhat ashamed.

* * *

"You should have asked her," Harry pointed out, amused.

The Twins glared at him before going back to watching Hermione. They'd been beyond shocked when Hermione had walked in on the arm of Victor Krum.

"We didn't think she'd want to go with us." Fred murmured, eyes not leaving Hermione.

"We're of age in April," George explained, similarly focused. "And she's only fourteen."

"Fifteen." Harry corrected.

George stared at him.

"What?"

"Hermione. She's fifteen."

"No, she's not. Her birthday is next year."

Harry smirked.

"Her birthday was in September. I owe her five galleons." He laughed. "We bet on how long it would take you two to notice."

Fred and George went pale.

"We've never..."

"Didn't even think about it..."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

He took a long drink of butterbeer.

"She told me not to. She hates her birthday and you two kind of make a fuss about things. Seems a bit silly for you to not to know how old your girlfriend is."

"She's not our girlfriend," Fred muttered, grumpily.

"Yeah, right. You three spend all your time together, you miss each other when your gone. Can you honestly tell me, after tonight, you two don't think she's attractive? Or that you don't have a crush on her? Because I've seen you two. You scare off every boy in a five mile radius, including me and I'm her _brother_."

George scowled.

"You think this is the first time we've noticed?" He snapped. "We're not idiots, Harry. We know how we feel."

"Well, apparently you are. Did it ever occur to you to explain that such a thing was possible to her? She's muggleborn, remember? For Merlin's sake, you both took different girls to the Ball, leaving her with no choice."

"She was going to go with me." Luna drifted up to them, causing Harry to smile like a lovestruck fool. Luna's eyes were unusually sharp. "She's liked you for years but neither of you ever did anything about it." She shrugged. "Even soul mates can drift apart, you know."

Harry reached out to grab Fred's arm as he made to head towards her.

"Don't you dare, Fred Weasley. She's having the time of her life out there."

"Yeah, in the arms of some Bulgarian."

"In the arms of the guy who was actually _brave_ enough to ask her."

The Twins folded their arms and scowled.

"I will _not_ let you ruin this for her." Surprisingly it was Luna who was yelling at them, Harry standing behind her looking besotted.

"Fine. We'll wait."

* * *

Hermione was still smiling as she drifted up the stairs.

"Amazon?"

She paused halfway down the fifth-floor corridor and waited for the Twins to catch up. They marched up to her looking handsome and determined in their dark dress robes.

"Listen, Mione..."

"We need to talk."

* * *

**_Updated 2020_ **


	15. Family First

Hermione laughed and Fred and George relaxed slightly at the sound.

"Can't it wait?" She teased. "I'm tired."

The Twins exchanged dark looks, which made her frown.

"No. It's..." George seemed to lose his nerve as his voice dried up. "Um..."

"You look nice." Fred blurted, apropos of nothing in particular.

Hermione stared at them, frowning.

"Thank you?" She offered, utterly confused. They continued to stare at her and eventually Hermione sighed. "Look, I'm going to bed. Dancing wore me out." She headed for the main staircase, only to hear what sounded like a growl coming from behind her. Before she could turn around to look, George reached out and grabbed her arm, dragging her into the nearest empty classroom. He dropped her arm as Fred locked the door behind them and she glared at the pair of them fiercely.

"I am not some eleven-year-old you two can just drag around Diagon Alley anymore!" She snapped, stepping resolutely away from them and ignoring their wince.

"Believe us..."

"We know."

Fred and George appeared to be having a conversation over her head and Hermione sighed heavily, resisting the urge to stamp her feet.

"What is this about?" She asked at last, when she was sure she could speak without shouting.

There was a dual sigh and then Fred asked.

"Why did you go with... _him_?"

"Victor?" Fred bared his teeth and she scowled. "Because he asked me." Hermione snapped defensively. "He's nice. Does it matter?"

"I told you so." George hissed furiously to his twin. Fred grimaced.

"Told him what?" Hermione asked cautiously. "What's going on?"

"We should have asked you to the Ball." Fred breathed and Hermione flinched.

"What?"

"We should have asked you." George repeated, hollowly. "We're sorry."

"Why..." Hermione cleared her throat when her own voice died. "Why would you want to ask me?" She managed.

Fred and George looked at each before each removed their own bracelet. The soul bonds on their arms were still black and seemed to run continuous from one twin to the other. They didn't even need her in the middle, Hermione thought sadly.

"We want you." Fred told her intently, eyes almost glowing in the dark. His brother smacked him with the flat of his hand.

"We've been idiots." George added, somewhat apologetically. "We should've done something before someone else asked you out. And now you're dating Victor and..."

"I'm not." Hermione whispered, shaking her head. "It was just to the Ball. We're friends." She almost staggered back under the relief that washed through the bond.

George bit his lip and nodded.

"Right. Good. Well..."

"We're friends, right?" Fred started again, staring at her intently.

Hermione eyed him, worried.

"You two are my best friends," She murmured. "You know that."

Fred bit his lip.

"Right. But what if we wanted to be...more than your best friends?"

There was a lump in her throat and Hermione couldn't swallow properly.

"Where is this going?" She asked, backing away from them. Neither twin seemed to notice.

"You know what Professor Flitwick said..." George started. "About identical twins usually ending up with the same person?"

"Because we've only got half a soul, or something..." Fred waved that away. "Look, our point is...we always knew we were going to fall for the same girl. And..."

"We fell for you." George finished.

The classroom was silent, save for the ragged rasp of their breathing. In the distance, there was the faint sounds of exhausted students making their way to bed and the occasional bellow of a teacher.

"No." Hermione breathed, tears springing to her eyes. "No!"

Fred and George staggered backwards as though they'd been pushed.

"No!" She cried. "You weren't supposed to like me _back_!"

"Hermione..." George breathed eyes wide, as Fred pleaded, "Amazon..."

"Did you forget," Hermione rasped, tugging her own bracelets off her wrists. "That we're friends?" Her soul bonds were grey and faded, but they were visible all the way to her collar bones. She shuddered and continued hollowly. "We are destined to be _friends_! So no matter what we might feel _this_ cannot happen. We are predetermined to be friends and nothing more!"

Fred stepped forward.

"What _we_ feel...? Hermione, do you..."

"It doesn't matter!" Hermione yelled, shoving her bracelets back on. "The bonds can't be broken, can't be changed, you two said it yourselves!"

"The bonds don't matter!" George cried, finally losing his head. "'Mione we..."

"They do matter!" Hermione was tear-stained and exhausted and she wanted nothing more at that moment than to be anywhere other than where she was. "And even if they didn't...You're talking about forever. _Everyone_ here is talking about forever. Harry and Luna...She's thirteen years old for crying out loud! And yet Harry's decided she's his true love! I am fifteen bloody years old! I can't even consent yet!" Hermione cried. "And...Even if we weren't tied together by some _stupid_ bond, I am far too young to deal with this. So just..." She stepped towards the door. "Just let me go."

Fred and George stood there and Hermione almost crumpled under the backwash of _agony_ she felt through the bonds.

She yanked desperately at the door and it sprung open.

"I really am sorry." She whispered, before leaving.

* * *

Minerva walked through the empty and cold corridors slowly, checking every classroom and cupboard on her way. Most of the students should be in bed now, but you could never be too certain, especially with the boys from Bouxbatons. If she had to deal with one more fainting sixth year...

The was a quiet sound coming from the Transfiguration corridor and Minerva turned down it with a frown. It sounded like crying.

There was a small lump on the floor next to the entrance to Minerva's own quarters, dark blue in the wand light.

The lump sniffled and then raised its head.

Hermione blinked up at her, eyes red and puffy, expression distraught.

"I said no." She whispered.

Minerva managed to usher her adopted daughter into her sitting room with only a little effort. Hermione seemed too exhausted to think straight and merely collapsed into her preferred armchair, wrinkling her dress dreadfully in the process.

"Here." Minerva reached for a large quilt her mother had made and draped it around the girl's shoulders. "Now why don't you tell me what happened?" She asked gently, stoking the fire with her wand and setting the kettle onto it.

"The Twins..." Hermione drew in a shuddering breath and wiped her tears on a corner of the blanket. "They..."

Minerva stilled, eyes glinting in the firelight.

"Hermione, did they hurt you?" She asked seriously, not wanting to believe the implications behind that question but determined to ask anyway.

Hermione jerked slightly and her wide brown eyes met Minerva's with what looked like shock in her gaze.

"No! They wouldn't. It was me." She drew in a shaky breath. "I hurt them."

"I'm sure..."

"They said they liked me!" Hermione wailed, staring at Minerva in what appeared to be horror. Things became very obvious to the older witch then and she sighed. "They said they liked me and they meant forever." She trailed off, hunching her shoulders and pulling the quilt tighter around herself. Minerva crouched down next to her and tried to understand.

The issue probably wasn't that Hermione hadn't returned their feelings. Minerva had eyes after all and she'd suspected the direction the trio were heading in for some time. But Hermione was very young and she was muggleborn. The wizarding tradition of getting engaged in seventh year was still, for the most part, alive and well. She remembered the rumpus James had caused...

"Why did you say no?" Minerva quietly asked.

"I couldn't..." Hermione swallowed. "I can't...I'm fifteen!"

"I know." She gave in to what little maternal instincts she had and wrapped her arms around the shaking girl. "I know. It's all right, Hermione. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes, I did." Hermione sniffled. "I did, I hurt them."

"No, little one, you didn't." Minerva paused. "Listen to me, Hermione. You should never, ever agree to something you're not ready for."

Hermione scrubbed at her face with the back of her hand.

"It's not just that." She said in a whisper. "Harry's going through the tournament and _someone's_ out to get him. This wouldn't be the time. Besides," She flicked at her bracelet with one finger. "We're _platonic_ soulmates. We shouldn't be together anyway. Just go to sleep." She added and Minerva was distracted from the phrase that had caught her attention by the sudden change of topic. Hermione was rubbing at her temples with her fingers. "Just go to sleep," She begged, seemingly talking to herself. "Please. I know, it's my fault...just _go to sleep_!"

"Hermione..." Minerva asked cautiously. "Who are you talking to?"

Exhausted and miserable brown eyes opened to stare at her.

"The Twins." She breathed. "They're so upset and they won't go to sleep so the Bond's full of it and it's all my fault!" Her eyes closed again and she whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." under her breath. "Please go to sleep. Please!"

"What do you mean?"

"I can feel their emotions." Hermione cried thickly. "Constantly, in the back of my head. And now...They're heartbroken and I can't get away from it. It's not usually this strong." She began crying again and Minerva wasn't certain if it was her own sorrow or bitter feedback from the Twins. "Please, Aunt Minnie" She begged, looking desperately at Minerva. "I need them out of my head!" Hermione sobbed and several breakable items shattered.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall stormed down the Charms corridor, terrifying several early rising Ravenclaw's who happened to get in her way. She hissed out the password to Flitwick's office which such vehemence that the painting banged against the wall in its haste to get out of her way.

"You lied to them!"

_I must confess some confusion and no small amount of fear in reaction to her presence. As any former student will tell you, Minerva is not one to cross._

"Who?" Flitwick squeaked, smoothing down his hair which stuck up in tufts around his ears. He had clearly just woken up, a blue dressing gown was wrapped loosely around his nightshirt.

"My _daughter_ came to see me last night, in floods of tears. It took a sleeping draught to get to her to rest, she was so distraught. And you. Told. Her. It. Was. Platonic!"

Flitwick winced.

"Ah." He sighed. "I was wondering when this would come up."

"Explain." Minerva bit out. "Now."

Filius scowled up at her.

"I had a good reason for lying!" He snapped. "It would be a terrible thing indeed for me to lay the responsibilities of a complete romantic bond on children under fourteen. They would have felt pressured...It was for the best for them not to know." He defended.

Minerva scowled.

"Honestly," She hissed. "Couldn't you have just not given them full disclosure and then told them the rest when they were older?" She sat down heavily in a chair. "How do I dampen the Bond?"

Filius stared at her in disbelief.

"Why on earth would you want to do that?"

The witch sighed heavily.

"Because last night, that Bond fell apart. All three of them are heartbroken and Hermione cannot get away from the pair of them because they are living inside her mind!"

He frowned.

"Well...distance would help, at least immediately. Their Bond isn't matured at this point, so a lack of contact is still an issue. Occlumency might help." He offered and Minerva raised an eyebrow at him.

"As brilliant as my daughter undoubtedly is, she is only fifteen. Occlumency is beyond her."

"She's been learning the Patronus charm." Filius murmured.

"Believe me, I am aware." Hermione spent more than one-afternoon tea session fretting over her failure to get the spell right. Minerva occasionally, and very quietly, worried that the girl was entirely too bitter for the charm to take. "But there is a difference..."

"Well, what can it hurt?" Filius cried, throwing up his arms. "Minerva, these things aren't designed to be blocked..."

"The Bond's in tatters anyway." Minerva snapped and Filius glanced at her. "Her marks are grey." She sighed. "The Bond isn't healthy enough at the moment. Maybe distance will help." She fixed him with a serious look. "Can I trust you to look after the school while I'm gone?"

"Gone?" Filius spluttered, "Where are you going?"

Minerva snorted.

"I think I've been neglecting my duties as a parent. I've been shipping her off to Black's for years now, it is high time I took some responsibility."

"What will you tell Dumbledore?" He demanded, wide-eyed.

She sniffed imperiously.

"I believe I am well owed some time off and no one will notice one missing muggleborn," She scowled. "As irritating as that fact may be." She ground out, getting to her feet.

"Where will you go?"

Minerva paused at that.

"Home, I imagine." She murmured, heading for the portrait.

* * *

_It wasn't until recently I learned exactly what had happened to the trio the night of the Yule Ball. The effects of it were noticed by almost everyone but very few knew the actual cause and none who did, not even Harry Black, would speak of it. After leaving my office Minerva went straight to Dumbledore and, according to some of the portraits I've spoken to, almost bullied the man into letting her leave the castle. Technically speaking, as Deputy Head, Minerva was never actually off duty and, unlike some other professors who preferred to return to their families during the holidays, was required to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas and Easter. Whatever it was Minerva said, it evidently worked as she, with Hermione in tow, left Hogwarts castle before ten that morning._

* * *

Hermione relaxed almost instantly when they stepped out of the fireplace into the darkroom and the ringing in her head lessened to a dull ache.

''Where are we?'' She murmured, hoisting her bag slightly higher on her shoulder.

Minerva flicked her wand and the curtains parted over the windows as the dust covers flew off several pieces of furniture.

''Galashiels.'' She murmured, shrugging off her travelling cloak. ''Or close enough.''

Hermione stared out the window at the snowy landscape and made out what was probably a large garden bordered in trees under the white blanket.

''This is my house.'' The older witch added as she led the way into the kitchen. It was bright with the curtains open and, although cold, smelled fresh and clean. ''I have a house elf come in once a month and make sure nothing gets out of order.'' She lifted a large bright copper kettle and filled it with water out of the tap, before setting it on the range which she lit with her wand. She sighed. ''I haven't spent as much time here as I'd like since I started teaching.''

Hermione put her bag down by her feet and sat carefully on one of the kitchen chairs. The house wasn't much like her parent's had been. They had always favoured modern houses because they were easier to keep clean and they liked living on housing estates. They'd never had much of a garden either.

''Were you always a teacher?'' She asked quietly. Minerva lit the candles on the mantelpiece and the scent of honeysuckle and vanilla began to float through the air.

''Not always. I used to work in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement.''

''Like Aunt Amy?'' Hermione murmured.

''Quite. I took up the job as Transfiguration Teacher when Dumbledore left it to become Headmaster.'' She bustled off into the small pantry and Hermione took the opportunity to look around.

Here and there were the scattered remnants of a life lived long before Hermione's arrival. An old and slightly threadbare Gryffindor scarf pinned above a portrait of a Scottish castle. A racing broom leaning in the corner with bent twigs and an unpolished handle. Stacks of books from all manner of subjects were bursting from the shelves and bits of cat fur inevitably covered most of the furniture. On the mantelpiece was a series of pictures, all moving and all in black and white, picturing a variety of people and above them all was the background of a portrait in an otherwise empty frame. Its occupant had apparently vacated the premises.

Minerva wandered back in with a biscuit tin as the kettle began to boil and set about making tea. Hermione was suddenly, inexplicably, tired and she accepted her cup quietly, ignoring the worried look her adopted mother was giving her.

''Filius believes,'' Minerva murmured sometime later, ''That there may be a way to dampen the Bond if you want.''

Hermione peered at her.

''How?''

Minerva grimaced.

''It is not a form of magic you've ever approached before.'' Her eyes narrowed behind her spectacles. ''I don't expect you to be able to master it. Filius is mad if you ask me.''

Hermione shrugged. People tended not to expect things of her. Her grandmother hadn't expected her to be a freak. Peter Pettigrew hadn't expected to be set on fire by a child. The Twins hadn't expected her to break their hearts.

If no one expected her to be able to do this, then there was no reason why she couldn't.

* * *

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Amelia asked, kissing Sirius' cheek as she sat down at the breakfast table next to him.

Sirius scowled down at the letter in his hands.

"I'm trying to decide if I should be annoyed or not." He announced as Remus entered the room. From further down the table a slightly hungover Tonks groaned.

"Why?" The werewolf enquired, giving the blue-haired witch a rather nervous look and sitting on Sirius' other side.

"Minerva sent me a letter." Sirius looked unusually serious, his dark eyes scanning the words on the brief letter intently.

"Oh no." Amelia groaned. "What's our son done now?"

"Nothing." There was a slight tone of disbelief in Sirius' voice at this. "It's Hermione."

That got everyone's attention. Everyone except Tonks who had just fallen asleep into her cereal.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked.

"She's taking her out of school." The wizard sighed. "Apparently, something went wrong with the Twins and 'Mione needs to be away from them for a while."

Amelia peered over his shoulder with a frown.

"Did she say why?"

"No." He passed over the letter so she could read it.

"Why do you think you should be annoyed?" Remus asked warily, fixing his coffee.

Sirius tugged at his hair.

"She can't just drag Hermione off to wherever she wants to without consulting me. I'm her other parent!"

"You do it." Remus murmured.

"I always tell Minerva beforehand," Sirius grumbled.

Remus jerked around to stare at him.

"You do?" He cried, amazed.

Sirius fixed him with a rather bemused look.

"I'll have you know I am the epitome of sensible parenting." Amelia started snickering into her tea.

Remus just raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but aren't you the same Sirius Black who once sent me an owl reading, " _HELP. I've kidnapped Harry. Bring food and nappies!_ "?"

"I was twenty-one!" Sirius exclaimed. "Babies are scary and Lily was the one who always knew what to do!"

There was a long pause in which everyone seemed to sigh.

"Still," Remus murmured, turning back to his plate of bacon. "She's Minerva's Heir, not yours and I really doubt Hermione lets _anyone_ take her anywhere without her express permission."

Sirius growled and only stopped when Amelia reached out with one hand absent-mindedly and scratched behind his ear.

"You're making fun of me," He complained, twisting his head slightly into her hand.

"Of course, dear." Amelia tossed down the letter. "I wonder what happened. Hermione and the Twins are..." They sent a wary look at Tonks who had woken up again and was rigidly spooning cereal into her mouth. "Close."

"That's an understatement," Remus whispered. "I hope she's okay though."

"She's got a crush." Bright, alarming eyes stared up at them from the other end of the table. Tonks ability to change her appearance had an odd habit of going slightly wacky whenever she went near alcohol so the toxic yellow eyes, irises rather larger than irises should be, were paired with skin tinged faintly green, sky blue hair and high, fey-like cheekbones. "You know no one ever told her she could date Twins?"

Sirius looked rather nauseous.

"Oh no." He cried when Remus looked at him accusingly. "That's definitely Minerva's job."

* * *

''Oh thank bloody Merlin.'' Lee Jordan grabbed Harry by the shoulders and shook him roughly. ''What the hell is wrong with them?''

Harry, who in his defence had just woken up, blinked at him blearily.

''Wha'?'' He managed.

Lee shook him again.

''Fred and George. Something's wrong with them!''

Harry help up a finger to indicate that Lee should wait, gently removed the older boy's hands from his shoulder, downed the mug of black coffee that Neville had thoughtfully just handed him in one gulp and then blinked.

''What do you mean something's wrong with the Twins?'' He demanded, imperiously returning the mug to Neville, whilst he turned back to Lee. ''Blimey, you look shite.'' He added, channelling his father.

Lee Jordan looked awful and not in the same way that everyone who had been the Yule Ball the night before did. His dreadlocks were wildly askew and his skin was a strange shade of grey it wasn't normally capable of. Large bags under his eyes indicated the boy had gotten no sleep the night before and the slightly mad look _in_ his eyes indicated that he wasn't happy about it.

''They're...Just...'' He threw up his hands. ''Just come and fix it because I dealt with them all night and I can't find their girlfriend _anywhere_ to help.''

Harry frowned.

''What do you mean? Hermione's just...'' He paused glancing up and down the breakfast table. Hermione, usually a mostly silent and sarcastic shadow at Harry's side was nowhere to be found. ''Oi, Lavender!'' Harry yelled and the blonde turned towards him with a sneer. ''Where's 'Mione?''

The girl shrugged.

''She went home.'' She told him. ''House elf packed her things this morning, she was gone before we even got up.''

Harry gritted his teeth and turned back to Lee who winced and took a step back. Whenever Harry got annoyed or angry, he had a tendency to look just like Sirius, who was actually rather terrifying when riled.

''Give me a moment.'' He hissed and charged off to the Hufflepuff table. Susan spotted him coming and sighed, viciously shoving Ernie McMillian up the bench to make room. Harry dropped into the offered space, easily ignoring the offended boy.

''Where's Hermione?'' He demanded quietly.

His step-sister frowned.

''Isn't she with you?''

''Lavender Brown says a house elf packed her things this morning and apparently, she's gone home.''

Susan frowned.

''And you're trusting _Lavender_ 's word, are you?'' She asked doubtfully.

''Lee can't find her either and the Twins are in a right state, 'cording to him.''

Susan frowned and nodded towards the teachers' table.

''McGonagall's gone.'' She pointed out quietly. ''You don't think something's happened, do you?''

''I haven't heard anything from Sirius.'' He scowled. ''Come on, I'm going to need back up if the Twins really are upset.''

Susan eyed her breakfast sadly but didn't disagree. Then she paused, nodding towards the Slytherin table.

''Have you considered asking her date?'' She murmured.

Harry's eyes widened as he stared at the broad back of Victor Krum.

''You don't think...?'' He started and Susan slapped his arm.

''No! But he was the last person to see her last night, so maybe he knows something.''

The Slytherin table eyed them unhappily and Harry's cousin...although most of them were probably related to Harry anyway in one shape or form, outright scowled at his approach. Harry glared right back at Draco. Someone nudged the Durmstrang champion and he turned to look at them, frowning in confusion.

''Da?'' He asked.

Harry smiled charmingly.

''Can we have a word?'' He asked.

Victor raised an eyebrow, but got up anyway, following them from the Great Hall.

''Vhat is this about? Is 'ermione well?'' He added, looking genuinely concerned.

Susan blinked.

''We don't know. Have you seen her?''

The burly teenager shook his head solemnly.

''I saw her last, last night. After ze ball.'' He eyed Harry warily. ''I zaid goodnight. Like gentleman.''

Harry rolled his eyes.

''Please, I'm not the one you need to look out for. Have you seen her since?''

''No.''

''Was she upset?'' Susan added desperately, ''Unwell?''

''No. She was happy.'' His eyes narrowed. ''Vhy?''

Harry was grinding his teeth.

''Apparently, she's gone home.'' He muttered. ''And we don't know why.''

''But...'' Victor frowned. ''She is an orphan, no?''

''And that's why we're worried.'' Because as far as anyone outside the family knew, Hermione didn't have a home. He grimaced at the Bulgarian and left.

* * *

Smuggling a Hufflepuff into the boy's dormitory in Gryffindor Tower was easier than some might expect. This is probably because no one really looks at Hufflepuffs which is why they get away with everything and partly because everyone knew Susan was Harry's cousin anyway.

Harry approached the sixth-year dormitory door with a nervous look on his face, which changed to annoyance when he spotted Lee hovering, behind Susan.

''It can't be that bad.'' He hissed at him.

Lee glowered at him.

''Five Galleons says you're wrong.'' He snapped and stormed off.

Harry and Susan both rolled their eyes before he opened the door and they stepped into the dorm.

Harry sucked in a breath.

''Susan,'' He murmured, taking in the tear-stained boys sitting on the bed practically radiating misery. ''Can I borrow five Galleons?''

* * *

_Prongslet,_

_Your sister's gone to stay with her mother for the rest of the holidays. Apparently, something went wrong with her and the Twins. Keep an eye on them for me,_

_Dad._

* * *

_Harry,_

_I'm at Minerva's._

_I needed some space from Fred and George. I said no, Harry. Keep an eye on them for me._

_I'll be back for the next term._

_Hermione._

* * *

Harry scowled down at the letters, both of which told him almost nothing.

''What does it mean, 'she said no'?'' He asked Susan.

She snatched the letters out of his hands and read them, frowning.

''Oh dear.'' She murmured and Harry leaned over her shoulder, trying to work out what she'd realised. Susan batted him out of the way playfully.

''What is it?'' He whined.

''Urgh, you're worse than Uncle Sirius.'' She snapped. ''Hermione said no.''

''Yeah.''

''To the Twins.''

''Yeah.''

She sighed.

''Who by your own admission, _Black_ , had just realised they liked her.''

Harry froze.

''Oh.''

''They're not sick.'' She nodded towards the boy's staircase from which the Twins had yet to descend. ''They're heartbroken.''

''Shite.'' said Harry succinctly.

* * *

The Twins didn't appear for the rest of Boxing Day and Lee spent that night camped out in the Common Room. Eventually, Ginny Weasley declared enough was enough and dragged them out of their dorm room by their ears and down to breakfast on the twenty-seventh. Harry couldn't decide whose side he was supposed to be on and as a result spent most of his time with Susan. Luna was missing but this wasn't unusual and, aside from some mild pouting, Harry didn't mind.

The Twins improved drastically over the next couple of days and had even started grinning at the Black's in the corridor whenever they passed. At least, Susan pointed out, they seemed to have accepted Hermione's decision with good grace. Harry personally thought it would be a long time before the trio's friendship was back on track.

* * *

_There are many who believe Occlumency to be a forgotten art, which for the most part is true. Many Pureblood families still insist in tutoring their Heir in its practice - because giving away secrets whilst drunk is one thing, but having House secrets ripped from your mind is quite another. However, there are so few skilled in Legillimens that knowing the art is almost pointless. But one of the benefits that come with Occlumency is control over your own mind and your thoughts. Which, when you have an undisciplined Bond, is extremely useful._

* * *

"Breathe…" Minerva watched the small girl as she sat quietly on the sofa. She'd been in place for almost half an hour now, working hard to examine her own mind. They'd had little success until recently. Teaching Hermione how to do something that was based on emotions or general feelings…had been unsuccessful. So, after some brief owl consultation with Amelia, Minerva had changed tack. Hermione was building a wall (Or at least, she was supposed to be. It was possible she'd fallen asleep again.). Visualisation worked to an extent with Hermione, but what worked better was for her to actually build a wall of facts to block out the Bond. This required a great amount of concentration on Hermione's part and a lot of patience on Minerva's. New Year's was approaching fast, and she didn't want to return her daughter to Hogwarts unless she could control this. It just wouldn't be fair. The chances of Bouxbatons taking her in mid-term weren't good but Minerva was determined. It was time she started putting her daughter first.

* * *

"Oh, sweetheart."

Sirius and Remus had taken one look at Hermione and wrapped their arms around her.

"Minerva told you?" Hermione asked weakly, trying to hide her tears.

Remus scoffed.

"Twist, we were James Potter's best friends. We know heartbreak when we see it."

Sirius moved back so he could look into her eyes. His usually playful expression had settled into something more serious.

"Hermione, I want you to know something, and I need you to remember it." He waited until she'd wiped her eyes before he continued. "You are a daughter of this House. We will stand with you no matter what you choose. And I am so proud of you right now."

She gaped at him.

"But…What about…? I was horrible to them!" She cried.

Sirius scowled.

"'Mione you did what was right by yourself. You weren't afraid to say no, and that can be one of the hardest things to say, particularly to the ones we love." He smiled at her sadly. "Fred and George are your friends, but they aren't the beginning or the end of you. I am so proud of you, and I'm sorry it hurts right now, but it will get better darling, trust me on that." He hugged her again, letting the girl cry herself out. "It'll be alright, I promise."

Amelia, sipping on a gin and tonic, watched them fondly from the corner and made a mental note to take the girl shopping again.

"This New Year's Eve party got depressing fast," Tonks muttered, standing next to her. Amelia kicked her in the shin.

* * *

"I think," Hermione breathed wearily. "I've got it."

The marks on her arms were a pale ashen grey, the palest they had ever been but more importantly, the distracting rush of feelings from the Twins was blocked. And just in time too, as term started up again in the day after tomorrow.

Minerva sighed heavily.

"Are you sure?" She pressed. "You don't have to go back if you don't want to."

"I don't...I want…" Hermione scowled. "I'm not a coward." She complained. "And...I want to see them again." She admitted.

The older witch watched her suspiciously but sensing there was to be no arguing with her adopted daughter changed the subject.

* * *

To avoid suspicion Minerva left Hermione outside King's Cross Station to board the train with the handful of other students who'd gone home for the holidays. Hermione hid away from them, spending the journey curled up in a compartment by herself, silently reading the book Amelia had gotten her for Christmas. She tried to focus on eighteenth-century defensive spells and the rather strange fashion for dairy-related hexes that had developed in France at the time and attempted to ignore how the Bond awoke with every mile North the train travelled.

The sheer raw agony that had driven her away from the castle was gone, replaced by a hollow sense of emptiness that was somehow almost worse. She could feel it seeping around her shields, driving her already low mood even further down.

By the time the train had drawn into Hogsmead Hermione was emotionally exhausted and she stumbled onto the platform, following the few returning pupils towards the horse-drawn carriages. She tried not to look at the horses. Ever since she'd overcome the memory erase last year she'd been able to see them. Something about that told her not to tell anyone.

When they arrive at the gates, Hermione stepped straight from the carriage into her adopted brother's arms.

Harry Black hugged as exuberantly as he did everything else and Hermione crumbled as he wrapped himself around her, resting his chin on top of her head.

''Long time, no see.'' He commented mildly.

Hermione sobbed out a bitter laugh into his jumper.

* * *

They decided to skip dinner and Harry escorted her upstairs, keeping one arm firmly around her shoulders. They passed groups of students, some of whom openly stared at Hermione as they walked by.

''I should warn you...'' Harry started but was cut off as the Fat Lady's portrait swung open and a gaggle of third years were deposited into the seventh-floor corridor. Harry winced as Ginny Weasley caught sight of Hermione and pushed her way to the front of the group.

''You!'' She hissed furiously, advancing.

Hermione stopped and looked confused. As far as Harry knew she'd never even spoken to the Twins little sister.

''What did you do to my brothers?'' Ginny demanded.

Hermione's eyes widened and Harry shifted uneasily.

''I didn't...'' Hermione started, but the red-haired witch wasn't interested in listening to her.

''They've been miserable ever since they saw you at the Ball with...'' Ginny trailed off, eyes widening. ''That's it, isn't it?'' She spat. ''You were cheating on them with Krum and thought you'd flaunt it in front of the entire school!''

''No!'' Harry yelled as Hermione's face drained of blood.

''I wouldn't,'' She breathed. ''I didn't I...''

CRACK!

Hermione's head snapped to the side with the force of Ginny's slap and Harry moved without thinking, stepping between the witches and lifting his wand on the younger girl.

''Don't even think about it.'' He snarled and Ginny flinched backwards. ''You ever lay a hand on her again...''

Ginny recovered quickly and snorted disdainfully.

''Who would want to?'' She spat and stepped around the pair, leading the goggling gaggle of third years away.

''Bollocks.'' Harry breathed, once they were out of range. This would be all over the school by morning, Hogwarts students weren't the most closed-lipped of people. ''C'mon.'' He added, wrapping his arm back around Hermione's shoulder and tugging her towards the portrait.

The few Gryffindor's in the Common Room fell silent, staring at them as Harry dragged a catatonic Hermione through the portrait hole. He stepped towards the boy's staircase and froze in indecision, feeling the eyes of the assembled students on his back. Harry sighed and changed course smoothly for the armchairs tucked in the corner.

''You okay?'' He asked once he'd gotten Hermione sat down.

She visibly shook herself and grimaced.

''Yes. I'm fine.'' She muttered.

Harry rolled his eyes but ignored the lie.

''Where have you been?'' He pressed.

''My mother's for a bit,'' Hermione eyed the suspiciously quiet students behind him warily. ''We went to Auntie Amy's for New Years.''

''Remus get rat-arsed?'' Harry asked, bemused.

''I think Padfoot spiked his drink.'' Hermione agreed. Harry sighed at the lack of emotion behind the words. She hadn't sounded this bad since he'd first met her. ''He ended up asleep on the dining room table.''

''Wish I hadn't missed that.'' He murmured.

Hermione hummed.

''What...'' He sighed. ''What happened with the Twins?''

''I said no,'' Hermione told him quietly. Her lips looked bloodless. ''They...asked me out, I suppose and I said no. Then the...'' She waved her wrist and the bracelet slipped out from under her sleeve. ''It got to be too much. I needed space. So Aunt Minnie took me out of school and she taught me how to dampen the...thing. So it wasn't so overwhelming.''

Harry eyes widened and remember the day before yesterday where Fred and George had spent the day sitting by the fire, staring blankly at nothing.

''Is that safe?'' He asked.

Hermione shrugged listlessly.

''Until I find a way to break it, it'll have to do.''

Harry flinched.

''You can't break it!'' He breathed, shocked. ''It's a...'' He scowled, glancing over his shoulder. They were definitely being eavesdropped on. ''Hermione, they can't be broken. You know that.''

''No.'' Hermione murmured. '' _You_ know that. Just because I haven't found a way yet doesn't mean that one doesn't exist.''

Harry shoved his hands into his hair, scowled when he felt air hit his forehead and then frantically flattened it down again.

"How are they?" She asked him nervously.

Harry tried to think of a way to say "utterly heartbroken" without verbally gutting his adopted sister.

"They weren't great." He admitted. "But they're better. I think they just needed some time to adjust. Give them some space."

"You think they'll forgive me?" She asked.

He shrugged.

''It's their problem if they don't. Get some rest.'' He told her, catching sight of his watch. Dinner would be ending soon and the Common Room would be filled with nosy Gryffindor students which were the last thing they needed. ''I'll meet you down here in the morning?''

Hermione nodded and got to her feet, heading for the girl's dormitory.

Harry pulled at his hair unhappily and headed for his own bed.

* * *

The adopted siblings met in the common room early the next morning, Harry, half-asleep, Hermione, looking as though she hadn't slept at all. They made their way downstairs quietly, dodging the few other early risers they met until they got to the Great Hall.

''Coffee.'' Harry pleaded, yawning.

Hermione huffed but poured his mug anyway, pushing it towards him without a word.

''Ta.'' He mumbled.

''You're as bad as Dad,'' Hermione muttered.

Harry choked and Hermione rubbed his back until he could suck in air again.

''Dad.'' He breathed.

She poured her own tea, eyeing his strangely.

''You called him Dad.'' Harry broke into a blinding grin. ''He's your Dad.''

Hermione froze for a second before she nodded warily.

''It's just...'' She sighed. ''It's just a title. And I think Sirius has more than earned it. Urgh, Harry..!'' Harry had squirmed his way under her arm and wrapped his own around her middle, hugging her tightly.

''You,'' He murmured in her ear, ''Are the best big sister I could ever wish to have.''

Hermione swallowed loudly and forced herself to relax.

''Thank you.'' She breathed.

Harry butted the side of her head with his forehead and let her go, turning back to his breakfast.

''You're my brother,'' Hermione whispered, staring into her mug of tea. Next to her Harry sighed and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly.

''Yeah, I am.''

Susan arrived five minutes later and dropped into the seat on Hermione's other side.

''Cousins.'' She greeted chirpily, hugging Hermione tightly before reaching for her own food.

''You know this is the Gryffindor table,'' Hermione asked quietly, ''Don't you?''

Susan gave her an imperious look over the forkful of eggs she was trying to stuff into her already full mouth. She swallowed, paused and then swallowed again, before saying,

''Family's more important, 'Mione. Pass the ketchup would you, Harry?''

Harry passed the ketchup over Hermione's head whilst the girl sat there feeling slightly stunned.

''Family's more important.'' She breathed. "Right."

* * *

They left before breakfast really got going, which was just as well because the early risers were starting to whisper pointedly and stare in their direction.

''What've you got first?'' Harry asked, rummaging in his school bag.

''Divination. Same as you.'' Susan rolled her eyes. ''What are you even looking for?''

''My quill. I swear I had a box of them...''

Hermione let out a choked noise and froze. Harry and Susan turned to her with frowns on their faces as they took in her pale face and large eyes.

It wasn't hard to spot what made her freeze.

Fred and George were standing side by side at the end of the fourth-floor corridor, ties loosely knotted at their necks, uniform rumpled despite it being the first day of term. They looked sleepy and bored, slouched lazily.

Susan knew the moment they spotted Hermione. They froze in place and for a moment they looked so completely relieved, staring at her with so much longing and worry that _Susan's_ heart tripped but those tender emotions were replaced with sheer anger so fast Susan almost thought she'd imagined it.

''Shit.'' Harry breathed, tugging on Hermione's arm.

The Twins glowered at her from the other end of the hallway before one of them grabbed the other and they vanished down a side-passage.

''Hermione?'' Susan asked, nervously. ''What was that about...?''

Hermione let out one slightly hysterical sob.

''Nothing more than I deserved.'' She muttered. ''I'm sure.''

Susan scowled at a nearby first year who had been watching the entire thing with wide eyes.

''Get lost,'' She ordered and the Ravenclaw scurried off. ''You don't deserve that. They've got no reason to be mean.'' She added fiercely.

Harry nodded.

''It's fine.'' Hermione rasped, unconvincingly. ''No, really.'' She insisted when they looked unconvinced. She dragged in a deep breath and grimaced at them. Susan assumed she'd been trying to smile, but somewhere in the process, it had gone awfully wrong. ''We've got other things to worry about.''

Susan exchanged a long look with Harry. They had grown up together, in an endless cycle of shared babysitters, holidays and awkward family dates where Sirius and Amelia made everyone feel nauseous. At this point, words weren't necessary. They silently agreed that perhaps letting Hermione ignore this was best and turn back to their adopted sister.

''Like what?'' Harry asked, suspiciously.

Hermione smiles coldly and Susan thought that that one didn't come out right either.

''Like getting you through the Second Task. Have you figured out that egg yet?''

Harry groaned and lead the way down the corridor, loudly complaining that he'd had better things to do with his time.

But not loudly enough that Susan didn't hear one of the fifth years who'd witnessed everything turn to her friends and hiss,

''I _told_ you she cheated on them.''

* * *

_The rumour mill at Hogwarts is faster than most Daily Prophet deliveries and far more adept at getting things wrong. The news that Hermione had spurned the Twins, however inaccurate, spread like wildfire, fuelled by the Twins continued stony silence on the matter. Either Fred and George were unaware of the rumours, or, more likely, they were simply too angry to disagree with them. As they continued unchallenged, the populace began to turn on Hermione for her perceived adultery. During her time at Hogwarts, and indeed later in life, Hermione was never a terribly popular girl. Mostly this was due to her somewhat abrasive personality and her unwillingness to tolerate fools but also because Hermione developed, somewhere in her early life, an extreme distrust of other people. It is hard to be popular when you refuse to allow many to know you. Needless to say, the Weasley Twins were exceedingly popular with the students and when this rumour came to the attention of the castle...well Hermione's life became very difficult very quickly. I remember being amazed at the sheer level of hostility being shown towards a single student._

_To their credit, the Black family closed ranks around Hermione, with Harry and Susan standing firmly between her and everyone else. Not that that stopped a great many people. Surprisingly Victor Krum sided with her as well, accompanying her to the library where she spent most of her time._

* * *

''Who was it this time?'' Harry asked warily as Hermione stumbled into the common room.

Hermione blinked at him or at least tried to.

''What?'' She managed, setting down a large stack of books on the table next to him.

''You seem to have broken your face.'' The wizard said dryly.

''Oh.'' She prodded her black eye with a finger and scowled. ''Ravenclaw wanted to duel me.''

''And...''

''And then she called me a slut so I kicked her. That's not important...''

''You kicked someone?'' Harry said, amazed.

Hermione looked impatient.

''That doesn't matter...''

''How'd you get a black eye?'' Harry demanded, incredulous.

''I tripped. Look...''

Harry scowled darkly.

''Who?''

''Pardon?'' Hermione managed, finally appearing to listen to him. Getting her to talk recently had been difficult. When she wasn't holed up in the library or being confronted by angry students, she was a near-silent shadow near Harry's elbow. Several days into the term Sirius had written to ask how she was doing. Harry didn't think his response of _''She's still alive''_ was really welcomed.

''Who hit you?'' He growled.

Hermione paused and looked slightly shifty as though she was contemplating running away.

''Anthony Goldstein?'' She offered.

''You said it was a girl,'' Harry dismissed easily. ''Stop lying.''

Hermione clenched her fists in frustration and Harry's quill burst into flames. He watched it smoulder on the tabletop idly. The Twins had hold of Hermione's book of interesting magic to stop her practising unsupervised. With them no longer speaking to her, she didn't have access to her book, making her magic slightly…rebellious.

''I have something important to tell you,'' Hermione insisted, pulling the top book in her pile towards them. ''Read this.'' She insisted, jabbing a finger at an open passage.

'' _...outside of their watery habitat the language of the merpeople, although translatable by humans, becomes incomprehensible in the open air. It is suggested that this may be to do with the different densities between water and..._ What does this mean?'' Harry whined.

''It means, you ridiculous boy, that we need to find you a bath.''

''Oh.''

* * *

They trudged through the thick snow down by the lake, their breath billowing out like dragon's breath in front of them. The Durmstrang ship creaked and groaned at the far end, so Harry and Hermione headed away from it, towards the Forbidden Forest.

''I don't like the sound of this,'' She murmured. '' _An hour-long you'll have to look_...''

Harry shoved wet strands of hair back behind his ear and shivered uselessly. He'd refused drying charms because he didn't want to risk anyone seeing him with frizz. Hermione had called him vain and elected to let him freeze.

''I'm more worried about what they're going to take.'' Harry kicked out at the snow. "It could be anything, couldn't it?"

Hermione shrugged, eyeing her shivering brother with grim amusement.

"That's not the issue here." She murmured. "The real problem is going to be working out how to breathe underwater. There are charms for this I'm sure, but you've got to be able to master them."

"What's Victor doing?" Harry asked, stepping neatly out of swatting range when Hermione reached for him.

"I haven't the foggiest if you must know," Hermione grumbled. "We don't exactly talk much."

"Oh, you don't do you?" He leered at her comically. Hermione kicked his leg.

"Shut it, Black." She snapped. "It's not like that and you know it."

"Dad wrote to me the other day." Sirius had actually written to him several times, but Harry didn't think mentioning that would help. "Wanted to know how you're doing."

"Tell him I'm fine." She muttered, hauling her cloak closer around her shoulders. She was pale, his sister, pale and quiet. If she wasn't dressed in black he'd be worried he was going to lose her in the snow.

"Generally," Harry said in a conversational tone, "I try to avoid lying to my father about things that a bloody obvious. You're not fine."

"Of course I'm not!" Hermione snapped, rounding on him. "My best friends hate me! I cared about them and I still hurt them. But I can't fix that. They don't want me to fix that." One of the reasons Hermione had taken up residence in the library was because the Twins would leave a room that she happened to enter. If it wasn't hurting his sister so much, Harry would have been impressed with the lengths they were willing to go to. "So, I'm just going to ignore it until this whole mess goes away!"

She stormed off.

"Well, that's healthy," Harry muttered, jogging after her.

* * *

"You're going to do what to us?" Hermione snapped furiously.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. This argument had been going on for a while. Standing just behind the Headmaster, Minerva looked incredibly amused.

"You will be perfectly safe...The magic involved is quite simple and…"

"And you told the champions that after an hour their treasure would be lost forever," She continued, talking straight over him. "How utterly disturbed to you have to be to think that putting someone through that kind of torture is okay?"

Next to her were three other girls. Cho Chang, who was nodding grimly, Luna, who was staring at her own fingers and a tiny little girl with white-blonde hair who introduced herself as Gabrielle in broken English.

"She's not even ten years old!" Cho added furiously, gesturing to the French girl.

It was the night before the Second Task and Hermione was exhausted. Bone tired. The effort required to keep the Twins out of her head, combined with school work and the Tournament and the emotional pressure she was under at the moment was proving to be too much. She was worried that Susan and Harry were going to see how many cracks she was shoring over every day. They had enough to worry about as it was without adding her problems to it.

"Surely you need permission?" The Ravenclaw was demanding.

Dumbledore was scowling at them.

"As we operate as _loco parentis_ for all our students we only need your permission. And as Miss Granger is a ward of the school, we don't even need hers. Now, will you help or not?"

Minerva looked suddenly furious, lips thinned into one grim line.

In the end, they all took the potions and, exchanging a grim and slightly frightened look, swallowed them. It was just like falling asleep, Hermione realised. Not such a bad way to go really.

* * *

"What the _hell_ ," Harry seethed, straining against Susan's grip. "Do you two want?"

Fred and George winced.

"Look," One of them started, probably George. "I know you're mad at us, but we just need to ask you if you've seen 'Mione today. Please it's important!"  
Susan snorted.

"What? _Now_ , you two care about her? Get lost."

Fred snarled.

"Tell us where she is! We need to know she's okay!"

Harry broke free of his cousin's hold and grabbed the front of Fred's shirt, hauling him down to his level.

"She's been miserable because of you two for _months_. Why do you care if she's okay today?" He shoved the twin away from him, scowling fiercely. "Jog on boys. We're not telling you anything!"

Fred lunged for him but was successfully caught by George.

"Leave it." He muttered. "We'll find out ourselves."

Harry and Susan turned and walked off, heading for the bank of the loch where stands had been set up.

"Harry…" Susan started quietly.

"You're going to say maybe we should have asked them _why,_ right?"

"Mm"

"Because we haven't seen Hermione since last night?"

"Uh huh."

"We don't need _them_ to find our sister."

Susan nodded decisively, well used to the stubborn Black temper.

"Okay then."

* * *

They'd found a solution to Harry's aquatic problems. Gillyweed, Susan told them, would allow him to breathe underwater. Judging by the way Neville Longbottom had started flinching whenever Susan walked into a room, she'd probably had some help with that information.

Still, Harry wasn't going to complain. After making a rude gesture at the judges, who insisted on calling him Harry Potter instead of Harry Black, he dove into the icy loch.

It was as dark and cold and gloomy as promised, but nothing he hadn't expected. The merpeople weren't dissimilar to the Mediterranean ones near Sirius' villa, so he did his best to steer clear of them.

It's hard to swear when you've got gills, but Harry gave it his best shot. There, hanging from a massive stone arch, were Luna and Hermione.

He only waited long enough to be sure that the Bulgarian had saved his sister before he took Luna and propelled himself towards the surface. He didn't know what it was that was holding the girls so perfectly still, but he was willing to bet it was why the Twins had been so upset. They'd been able to tell when she was petrified after all.

Luna hiccupped to life in his arms as they broke through the water and Harry became temporarily distracted with swimming to the shore.

* * *

Everyone was rescued and Harry came third, which he would have been quite pleased about had he actually cared. He and Luna were too busy trying to get past the throngs of Durmstrang students to actually listen to the scores. He hauled his girlfri…his fri… Luna through a gap which deposited them directly at Hermione's side. She was tucked to one side of the celebrations looking tired and cold.

Harry hugged her tightly.

"Hey," He breathed.

She mumbled something into his shoulder and sighed. Luna, feeling unusually tactile, slipped under Hermione's arm and wrapped herself tightly around the older girl.

"What the hell were they thinking?" Harry demanded furiously. "Taking actual people…"

Hermione opened her mouth of say something when angry shouting from the crowd behind them cut across her. Fred and George pushed their way to the front looking frantic and Hermione began to tremble, looking very pale.

"Oi!" Harry snapped, but George cut across him.

"We thought you were dead!" He yelled at Hermione, relief making him loud. Fred was clutching at his arm, staring, wide-eyed at her.

Hermione gaped silently at the pair of them and just shook her head.

"I think you should leave…" Victor, with the advantage of sheer muscle mass, stepped in front of them and folded his arms. The Durmstrang students took their cue from their champion and moved as a mass, herding the twins away from them.

"C'mon," Harry muttered. He and Luna got Hermione back up to the castle, wrapped in blankets and ducking past students and well-wishers.

* * *

"Hermione," Susan asked cautiously. "Can I ask you a question?"

"No," Hermione grumbled, pulling her book closer to her face.

Susan scowled. Sitting across from them and pretending he didn't exist, Harry sighed. Susan was impossible when there was something she wanted to know.

"Why _did_ you say no to the Twins? It's obvious you liked them back."

Hermione went rigid and Harry winced.

They had very carefully not talked about this, mostly out of respect for Hermione's feelings but also because the witch tended to react badly when pushed.

"Why the hell do you care?" Hermione spat.

Case in point.

Susan didn't even blink.

"I know you liked them. Most people thought you were already dating them."

Hermione was almost entirely hidden behind her book, only the top of her hair visible as she ignored the Hufflepuff.

"Susan…" Harry warned.

The red-haired witch scowled furiously.

"No. It's about time she talked about this."

"But…"

"I didn't want to," Hermione said quietly. Harry and Susan froze.

"But you like them.." Susan pressed gently.

"I'm fifteen years old." Hermione lowered her book and stared at them impassively. "And I'm already permanently tied to two boys who are almost adults with a bond I _didn't_ ask for and that everyone says I can't break." She flicked her bracelets dismissively. "I am already going to spend the rest of my life trying to keep the Twins out of my head. I'm not... I can't face _being_ with them…" She grimaced. "romantically. Not right now. Do you realise how utterly bizarre it is to get in a relationship with someone at fifteen and be honestly planning to spend the rest of your life with them? Let alone with two different people?"

"That's normal for Purebloods," Susan said gently. "Harry's parents got married just out of Hogwarts. Mine were betrothed from their fifth year."

"Well, it's not normal for me." Hermione looked slightly sad. "My parents were in their late thirties when they got married."

Harry and Susan gaped at her. The only reason Sirius and Amelia had gotten married so late in their lives was that they already had their own children to consider.

"If I…" She made a slightly peculiar face. "..got together with the Twins...it would be a forever sort of thing…"

"And that terrifies you." Susan nodded. "Fair enough." She sat down next to Hermione and leaned into her.

"Besides," Now Hermione had started speaking she didn't seem able to stop. "I've never been in a relationship. What if this is just a crush? What if I change my mind? I've never even kissed anyone!" She seemed to be panicking slightly.

"S'ok." Harry grinned at her. "Me neither."

"I have," Susan said, matter of factly. The adopted siblings gaped at her.

"Who have you been kissing?" Harry demanded.

"Never you mind." She sniffed imperiously.

* * *

_There was a marked change in tone from the Twins at this point. Mostly because they had begun to realise quite how stupid they were actually being._

* * *

"You made a smart move coming to me instead of Harry." Susan eyed the sixth-years thoughtfully. Fred and George stared back.

"Figured you'd be less likely to hex first." One of them muttered.

Susan hummed.

"Probably. How can I help you, gentlemen?"

"Look," One sighed. "We just want to know if she's okay."

Susan snorted.

"You just want to know how badly you screwed up. You were her friends, you know. She needed you and you abandoned her over some sore feelings."

"That's not…" the other one said, visibly frustrated. "Look, just answer the question."

Susan smirked.

"She's fine. Holding it together at least. Helping Harry with the Third Task."

"Just...look after her." One, probably George sighed. "Make sure she doesn't burn herself out."

"I think you've forgotten something." Susan spat, baring her teeth. "I'm a Hufflepuff. I'm loyal. Unlike you two."

* * *

"… **Granger, a plain muggleborn girl in Gryffindor house is most notable known amongst the student population of Hogwarts for being the romantic paramour of Victor Krum. However, Witch Weekly has learned that the Bulgarian Seeker had better watch out as Granger is known to go through men at an alarming rate. Speculation was set alight at Christmas when Miss Granger, who had previously been dating two sixth year boys, appeared on the arm of Krum at the Yule Ball. It is suspected that Miss Granger could** _ **not**_ **wait until the end of her current relationship to get her hands on Krum, preferring to string all three boys along.**

**But move forward to the end of the Second Task where there was an alarming scene between two sixth year boys, Victor Krum and Harry Potter. Yes, even the Boy-Who-Lived isn't immune to this witch's dubious charms and…" (Witch Weekly)**

* * *

"And then they accuse you of shagging Harry and making love potions." Susan finished dryly. Hermione sighed.

Harry was too busy striding irritably around the empty classroom. He would stop occasionally and make an effusive gesture whilst muttering " _She's my sister!_ " in a disgusted tone.

"Are they even allowed to do this?" Hermione asked. "I thought they couldn't print stuff about minors."

Susan gave her a pitying look.

"In the muggle world maybe, but here…where our entire generation fits into one school? I'd doubt it."

"We'll get Dad or Amy to do something!" Harry declared.

"They won't do anything, and you know it," Susan grumbled. "They'd have to explain why they were taking an interest in one muggleborn orphan. Which would draw unnecessary attention."

"Do you think…" Hermione paused for a moment. "Do you think the Twins have seen it?"

Harry and Susan scowled.

"If they believe that rubbish then you're better off without them."

* * *

_Fred and George did see the article. Mostly because a Slytherin girl in their charms class took great joy in reading it aloud. They sat there, stony-faced, as the girl continued to make lewd comments about Hermione until one of them, Fred I suspect, wordlessly set fire to the magazine she was reading from._

_The article, which had been widespread the day before, became impossible to find and a week later not a single copy could be found inside the castle._

* * *

" **Revenge Curse Work!**

**Witch Weekly reported that Rita Skeeter found herself on the wrong end of a grudge when some unknown individual caused a whirlwind inside the reporter's office. It proved to be impossible to control and has caused significant damage to Miss Skeeter's personal property. It required Gringotts Curse Breakers to remove the charm. Mr Weasley, a junior Cursebreaker, claimed that it was a harmless, if vindictive, prank. Amelia Bones claimed that as there was no evidence, the Aurors would not be able to investigate." (Daily Prophet)**

* * *

Hermione stared quietly at the article…more of a clipping really. Susan, who's scrapbooking hobby had reached frightening levels of efficiency this year, had slipped it to her when Harry hadn't been looking.

 _I think you know who did this_. She'd scrawled on it.

She had a suspicion that she knew who'd done it. She just didn't know why.

Fred and George hadn't spoken to her since the Second Trial, and before that not since Christmas. If it hadn't been for Harry and Susan, she didn't know what she would have done.

Very carefully, she lowered her shields.

* * *

Having someone in your head wasn't that strange, George had always reckoned. It was just a bit of additional noise. But _not_ having someone in your head who was supposed to be there? That was eerie and distracting. He couldn't feel Fred, never had been able to, the bond didn't work that way. But up until Christmas 'Mione had been a constant buzz of noise and emotions. They'd felt it the moment she'd left Hogwarts because the awful feeling of her own misery had dropped from a roar to a cold dull ache at the base of his skull.

Two weeks later everything had vanished. He and Fred had woken up late to an unnerving sense of nothing, and emptiness the likes of which they hadn't felt since their fourth year. The only comfort they had was that neither Harry or Susan looked worried and that the bonds marks hadn't faded.

A wave of trepidation and fear broke over him as he reached the top of the stairs and he fainted, collapsing backwards.

Down two flights of steps.

* * *

Fred had been luckier, he'd been sitting in the common room and had only come round because Alicia Spinnet was shaking him awake to tell him that his twin was in the Hospital Wing.

He was halfway there before he became aware of the nervous feeling that definitely wasn't his.

"Oh good." Madam Pomfrey called him over to a bed where she was holding her wand to the back of George's head, healing what looked like a nasty bruise.

"What happened?" Fred demanded. George winced at him, holding his left arm gingerly against his body.

"I tripped." He grumbled.

" Mr Weasley fell down two flights of stairs." Madam Pomfrey corrected sharply. "And he still won't tell me how." She lowered her wand. "I'll get you a potion for that arm. Won't be a tick."

Fred waited until she'd had bustled off before he hissed to his brother.

"Can you feel it?"

"The Bond?" George's eyes lost a little bit of focus. "I'm getting a hint of nervousness and a lot of worry."

"She's back." Fred sighed. "She's back and I don't know what to do."

George went very still and Fred didn't need to turn round to know why. The Bond flared into proper life as Hermione helped a swearing and irritable Harry into the Hospital Wing.

"Ruddy stupid wand." He grumbled loudly as she helped him onto a bed. Hermione was studiously keeping her back to them and the Twins drank in the sight of her. They'd stopped deliberately avoiding her after the Second Task but by that point, she'd adjusted her schedule to avoid them so well that they only saw her briefly in the corridors. She looked tired, her hair was getting long enough to reach her waist now and she'd tied it back into a braid.

"Here we are, Mr Weasley." Madam Pomfrey handed over the potions vial, oblivious to the tension in the room. "And Mr Black. What was it this time?"

Harry, whose eyes had swollen up until they were nearly entirely closed, scowled.

"I got the conjunctivitis jinx wrong." He complained.

The medi-witch scowled.

"That's the fourth misfired spell in two weeks. I know you're only training for the Task, what Dumbledore was thinking I'll never know…" She ushered Hermione away from the bed as she drew the privacy curtains. "That'll just take a minute." She promised.

Hermione was left standing somewhat awkwardly in the middle of the Hospital Wing, with Fred and George staring at her back.

"I'm sorry."

Her whisper barely reached them, but they heard it anyway. The Twins flinched.

"Yeah," George breathed. "So are we."

"Are you…?" She turned to look at them, wincing when she took in George's dishevelled appearance "Alright?"

George shrugged, smiling slightly.

"I'm fine. Just tripped."

Fred watched silently as she nodded to herself. She looked unusually unsure of herself, nervously twisting the cuff of her robes between her fingers.

"Right. OK. I'm just going to…" She turned on her heel and walked out, posture stiff and unyielding.

"How the fuck did we let it get to this?" George demanded.

Fred turned back to his brother and sighed.

"Dunno." Fred crumpled slightly. "I miss her."

"Yeah. Me too."

* * *

On the other side of the curtain, Harry Black sighed heavily. His eyes may be swollen shut but his hearing worked perfectly.

* * *

"Can we help you?" Susan asked icily.

The disused classroom the " _Black Support Term_ " (Harry's idea) had claimed was on the fourth floor, well out of the way of other students or Hufflepuff spies.

The Twins stood awkwardly in the doorway as the fourth years stared at them.

"Look, we've messed up…"

"...a lot…" Fred muttered

"...but we want to help. With the Task." George finished.

"We know a whole bunch of spells that might help you."

Harry scowled at the pair of them before he turned to his sister.

"'Mione?" He asked.

Hermione had been studiously looking at the floor but she glanced up now and shrugged.

"At this point...We need all the help we can get, Harry."

Harry grunted.

"Okay. You can stay."

* * *

_Although the teachers of Hogwarts were forbidden from helping either Mr Black or Mr Diggory, we were not forbidden from answering academic questions from other students. In fact in the months between the Second and Third Tasks Fred, George and Hermione asked more questions in class than they had for the previous three years combined. The staff were well aware of what they were doing but were more than happy enough to help. No teacher, with the possible exception of Professor Snape, was happy to have a fourteen-year-old competing in the Triwizard Tournament._

* * *

"Right…" a slightly singed Harry sighed, lowering his wand. "That's enough for one day. Or a lifetime." He added, unhappily.

Hermione and Susan, who'd been duelling him, lowered their own wands, trying not to laugh as Harry hopped sideways over one of the trick floorboards the Twins had installed around the room.

"We'll do this again on Friday," Hermione agreed.

Slowly the five of them broke down the wards they'd thrown up around the room and collecting their things. Susan paused by the door, glancing back across the room.

"Walk me back to the common room, Harry?" She asked.

It was an example of Harry's Pureblood upbringing that Harry didn't even blink at this, just scooped up his book bag and offered Susan his arm so he could escort her from the room. Susan had the nerve to smirk at Hermione as she left.

The Twins were dismantling the traps they'd set into the floor and didn't realise they were even alone with Hermione until she spoke up.

"Didn't you two have somewhere else to be tonight?"

Fred and George shrugged.

"This was more important."

Hermione watched them silently as they finished removing the last of their charms.

"Okay," She whispered, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder. "Happy Birthday then."

"Wait!"

She paused by the door and glanced back at them.

"We were gonna.." Fred winced.

"..Go up to the astronomy towers. Test some of our fireworks. Would you…"

"...Like to come with us?"

Hermione stared at the Twins, who stared straight back at her. The bond pushed and burned and she gave in.

"Yeah," Hermione murmured. "That'd be nice."

* * *

They made their way in silence up to the Astronomy Tower, Hermione pulling her school robes tightly around her to ward off the April chill. Fred tipped up the bag the Twins had been carrying around and emptied a pile of fireworks onto the ground. He picked one seemingly at random and propped it against the edge of the tower. He licked his thumb and used that to light the fuse. He and George ushered Hermione towards the other side of the tower and waited.

The firework went off without a sound sending out long streaks of magenta and orange which twisted in on themselves to form petals and eventually flowers which floated gently in the air before drifting down gently towards the ground.

"So," George said slowly, "We owe you an apology."

Hermione didn't say anything, just hunched her shoulders slightly.

"What happened...we were wrong to spring it on you like that. And we know we've got no right to be jealous of Krum just because we were cowards." Fred sighed. "So we're sorry. For that. But…"

"Promise us you'll never do that again!" George said in rush, unusually insistent.

Hermione scowled.

"What? Reject you?"

"No!" George scowled, looking frustrated. "...no. Merlin, that's...your business. No. Whatever the hell it is you did at before term started."

"With the bond," Fred added when she just looked confused. "We know you did something because we could feel it."

Hermione became aware of a horrible sinking feeling in her gut as she realised exactly what they were talking about.

"I sealed it off." She breathed quietly.

"We thought you were dead!" Fred snapped. George scowled at him and he winced apologetically. "Well, we did. Do you know what it felt like to us, to wake up one morning and just have you gone from our heads?"

"We were worried sick," George explained. "But Susan and Harry didn't seem worried so we waited to see and then, there you were. Completely fine. You'd just…"

"...rejected us completely." Fred finished. They weren't looking at her directly, staring out into the night. The bond burned with the strength of their emotions.

"I needed some space," Hermione told them nervously. "You don't know what it's like being in the middle of this. I've got both of you in my head and you both _feel_ so strongly. Minerva took me out of the castle to weaken the bond and then she taught me to block it. I can't break it. I've not found a way yet. But I couldn't...cope."

"You're still trying to break the bond?" Fred demanded, turning towards her. George caught his shoulder and held him back. "Even after all this?"

"Especially after this." Hermione rubbed her eyes tiredly. "There's something wrong with this stupid bond. And I just…" She stepped back. "I just want my best friends back."

"That's all we want," George assured her.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Hermione lost her nerve and looked away.

"Okay. For what it's worth…" She sighed, "I never meant to hurt you." They nodded. "And I'm sorry that I did. But right now, Harry is my priority. I refuse to lose my brother to this stupid Tournament. Everything else..can just wait."

They nodded as though they had expected that. Fred kicked another firework up into his hand, lit the fuse with his wand and lobbed it off the tower. It too exploded silently and split into ten tiny little corkscrews, spiralling off into the night.

"We are going to have to talk about this eventually." George murmured.

"How we feel hasn't changed," Fred added. Both of them had gone back to watching the fireworks. The next one George set off spun out sparks in every direction.

"Yeah," Hermione looked towards the door. "But not now."

"Later." They agreed.

"And I don't feel the same as you two do." She said decisively.

George looked at her from the corner of his eye and smirked.

"Liar." They drawled.

Hermione flushed and stormed down the Astronomy Tower stairs.

* * *

"Wait, you two lost all your savings to Ludo Bagman?" Harry said.

The Twins grimaced.

"Yeah, we won the bet but he paid us in leprechaun gold."

"Huh," Harry said thoughtfully.

The Twins went back to their letter to their mother. Her Easter presents had arrived the day before and it was very obvious that Mrs Weasley had read Rita Skeeter's article. They were trying to explain to her that she had the wrong impression, without giving her the impression that they were dating Hermione. If they did, it would probably shatter the quiet truce the three had set up. Harry was enjoying their struggle whilst watching the Marauders Map.

"Are you stalking Lovegood again?" Fred asked pointedly.

"No." Harry murmured.

"Good because she's right behind you," George told him.

"Nice try, she's in Greenhouse 3." Harry paused. "Shit." He whispered.

The Twins laughed at him.

"Don't you think it's weird that Karkaroff keeps following Snape around?" He said, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Don't you think it's weird you can't even talk to the girl you say you're in love with?" Fred teased.

Harry looked up and stared at him.

"You really wanna go there? Because I'll win and you two know it."

"So what's weird about Karkaroff?" George said evenly, while Fred glowered at the raven-haired wizard.

"This is the third time I've seen him alone with Snape."

"Maybe they're comparing hair care tips." George joked.

"Maybe they're talking about the old days," Hermione said as she joined them. The Twins smiled at her, causing Hermione to blush slightly and look down at the map.

"How do you mean?" Harry asked,

"Dad said that he used to be a Death Eater." Harry stared at her. "He told me when I saw him at New Years. He and Snape would have known each other."

"And they just put him in charge of a school?" Fred demanded, disgusted. Harry watched as George very carefully slipped the letter to their mother up his sleeve.

"Different world in Durmstrang." Hermione murmured. Fred opened his mouth to say something Harry suspected would have to do with a certain Bulgarian seeker and George kicked him. He closed his mouth. Something moved on the map and Harry scowled.

"Urgh,"

"What?"

"Barty Crouch." He jabbed the label with his finger. "Guess he's feeling better." Mr Crouch had been missing from the judges of the Second Task due to ill health. He hadn't been seen in months. He was moving quickly along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry wiped the map out of disgust. "Mischief Managed."

"And you hate him why?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, he was the one who tried to have Dad sent to Azkaban without trial." Harry scowled. "If it wasn't for Amy he would have succeeded."

"Is that why he says his good looks saved his life?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Bizarrely it is one of several instances." Harry rolled his eyes. "Vain prick."

"Oh, we talking about Uncle Sirius?" Susan asked brightly as she sat down.

* * *

_Dear mum,_

_Please tell us you didn't believe that stupid article Rita Skeeter wrote? That stupid harpy wrote nothing but lies about Hermione who's been our friend for years. She's never dated Harry or that git Krum. And you know she's not our girlfriend._

_Apologise to her or we'll cause hell when we get back. We're seventeen now and you can't stop us doing magic at home._

_Gred and Forge._

_(Donated by the Weasley Family)_

* * *

_The Third Task was a maze, everyone knew that. But no one knew the specifics and no one knew the dangers that waited inside. The day of the Task dawned bright and clear, the only problem being the look of sheer fury on the face of Lord Black as he arrived at the castle._

* * *

"I still can't believe this is going ahead," Sirius growled, scowling furiously at Ludo Bagman, who'd started looking very pale.

Amelia grunted in agreement as they waited for the Champions to be shown towards their families. Hermione and Susan had already joined them, although technically only one of them had permission to be there. There was a nearby group of French witches who could only be Fleur Delacours' family and a quiet pair conversing in Bulgarian who were watching Hermione closely.

"Did you get that gag order out on Skeeter in time?" Amelia asked quietly. The girls stared at them curiously.

"The bitch tried to write an article claiming Harry was mad," Sirius grumbled. "And yeah, I did. He's the heir to an Ancient and Noble House. She can't touch him."

"Unlike Hermione," Susan muttered irritably.

Both Amelia and Sirius winced.

The Champions were shown in and Harry made a beeline for them, happily hugging his adopted parents.

"Hey, Prongslet." Sirius grinned at him before frowning at the lot of them. "Amy, dear, how did I acquire so many kids?"

"Eh, you stole most of them." She grinned at them. "C'mon. I thought we could have a picnic down by the lake."

"She says picnic," Sirius warned, shepherding them out. "She means combat lesson."

* * *

"Harry," Sirius said seriously as the Black-Bones family hovered outside the Champions tent. Amelia had wandered off to oversee the last of the preparations. "Don't try to win this, okay?"

Harry stared at him.

"What?"

Sirius grimaced.

"Look, I don't give a damn about this competition, or about this eternal glory nonsense. I care about my son. I want you alive not fucking victorious, do you hear me?"

Harry stared at him looking slightly taken aback, but he nodded.

"Yeah, okay."

He hugged them all before heading into the Champions tent. Sirius waited until they were slightly further away before he hugged Hermione and Susan tightly.

"You two know I love you both as well, right?"

Both girls nodded, Hermione, slightly teary-eyed.

"I know I'm not your father but…"

Susan scowled.

"You're as good as." She declared fiercely, her red hair glowing brightly in the light from the late afternoon sun.

Sirius stared at the pair of them with wet eyes.

"We…" Hermione swallowed heavily. "We love you too, Dad."

"Fuck, buggery, shite." Sirius sniffed loudly and swiped at his eyes. "C'mon, we can't let Harry see us with red eyes. He's got enough to worry about." He produced a handkerchief and passed it around. "We'd better take our seats."

* * *

The Task itself passed without much interest. Sirius, thankfully, didn't make a comment about the Twins, who turned up and stood with Hermione as she watched the maze that had swallowed her brother. They were unusually silent, simply holding her hands tightly.

Both Fleur and Krum had to be rescued from the maze, leaving only the Hogwarts champions.

"I told him not to be a hero," Sirius muttered, glowering at the maze. "Ruddy Potter genes."

Susan snorted.

"Where's Auntie Amy?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Dunno." Sirius shrugged.

* * *

_The end of Third Task is something most at Hogwarts try to forget. The flash of the portkey as it deposited a distraught Harry Black onto the ground next to the stands. The sight of Cedric Diggory's body. The sound of Amos Diggory's cries._

_The Black family got caught in the crush of the crowd, so the only person who noticed Harry being almost dragged away by Professor Moody was Amelia Bones._

_Amelia had worked with Moody since her induction into the Auror training program some twenty years ago. Her own paranoia was a bizarre legacy from learning under his tutelage. She had greeted him earlier with the agreed-upon password they had set up years ago. Her suspicion had been aroused when she hadn't even been acknowledged._

_Upon sight of Moody attempting to remove Harry, she immediately gave chase._

* * *

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SON!" Amelia roared.

Moody, or whoever it was, looked up and narrowed his eyes. Throwing Harry behind him he lifted his wand just in time to cast a hurried shield against Amelia's blasting hex. Her next jinx was similarly blocked and then he began to cast back.

* * *

_The duel between the imposter and Madam Bones was furious, the like I hadn't seen in a long time. Amelia more than held her own but was hampered by the need to not hurt Harry, who was slouched on the ground._

* * *

" _STUPIFY_!" A jolt of bright red light hit Moody's shield and obliterated it, throwing the man twenty feet back to land on the grass, where he didn't move.

Amelia spun to see who had cast the jinx just in time to see her husband, still up in the stands, shoving himself in front of Hermione and the Twins, blocking them from view and lifting his own wand.

"Did I hit him?" He called, unnecessarily loudly.

Amelia gave him a grim nod and headed for Harry.

* * *

_There was a lot of key memories of that night. Harry recovered in the Hospital Wing with his family by his side whilst Dumbledore and Amelia Bones interrogated Barty Crouch Jr. Amelia's fury when Fudge gave the man the Dementor's Kiss, without a trial and without listening to his statement thus taking all of the evidence. And the suspicion over how Sirius Black managed to cast a spell so powerful. The resolve of Dumbledore to reform the Order of the Phoenix, calling all of the families of the Light together._

* * *

Hermione sat on one of the sofas in the Common Room, curled up between Fred and George. Harry had gone home the day after the Task, Sirius drawing him out of school immediately.

"I'm scared." She breathed.

"Me too."

"Later may have to wait." Hermione murmured.

They shrugged.

"Then so will we."

* * *

"Hey, kid." Sirius murmured. He was frowning at a pile of letters which were spread out on his text. "You up for an excursion?"

Hermione eyed him warily. They'd only been home from school for a few days.

"Where're we going?"

"Ely." He grinned at her. "C'mon. It'll be fine."

* * *

The two of them appeared on the outskirts of the quiet Cambridgeshire town, the mighty cathedral dwarfing all of the other buildings around. They blended in quite well, Hermione in jeans, trainers and an overlarge quidditch jersey with " _Weasley_ " printed on the back, Sirius in motorcycle boots, ripped jeans and one of his prized muggle band t-shirts, his sunglasses firmly in place. He led them through the town to a small muggle cafe where he ordered for both of them before dropping into a seat outdoors and sprawling artlessly.

Hermione, perched on the edge of her own seat, rolled her eyes.

"Why're we here?"

Sirius lowered his sunglasses so he could look at her over the top of them.

"Two reasons. Firstly, I woke up looking this good this morning and it would be a shame not to share it with the world." She laughed and the wizard winked at her. "Secondly, we are meeting someone here."

"Who?"

He shrugged.

"Wait and see. I don't honestly think they'll turn up."

"But we're in a muggle town?" Hermione asked, accepting her tea and cake from the waitress. Sirius waited until he had sipped at his own coffee before he answered.

"You're going to be Head of your own House someday…Two Houses actually..."

"I am?"

"Mmhmm. It is important to remember your own position. If someone wants to meet with you, they must come to you. Choose a meeting place where you are at ease, but they are not." He smirked. "Dress to show your power...not your wealth."

"So the reason you look like a seventies punk is…"

"Firstly," Sirius grinned. "I _was_ a seventies punk. And I look good. Secondly, I don't need to rely on my clothes to show that I hold all the cards here. The fact that I haven't dressed up…"

"Shows how little you care about this." Hermione finished. Sirius nodded."But why am I here?"

"I had a feeling a show of faith might be necessary." Sirius sighed. "Should really be Minerva teaching you this stuff." He mumbled, "But I figured you're my daughter too. Urgh...how weird is it that I have a kid with my Transfiguration Teacher?"

Hermione would have answered that but her eyes caught on something further down the street. Two people walked towards them, moving briskly through the crowd. Their wizard robes meant that they stood out, blonde hair shining in the sunlight. They caught sight of the Blacks almost immediately and headed straight towards them.

Narcissa Malfoy dropped into a full curtesy in front of their cafe table, dipping almost impossibly low with unwavering grace. She kept her head bowed as even behind her Draco, looking very shocked, hurriedly followed his mother's lead and bowed to Sirius.

"Lord Black." Narcissa murmured.

Sirius, sprawled in his chair, pushed his sunglasses up his nose and smirked, almost oozing entitled rich arrogance.

"Narcissa, dear. No need to stand on ceremony."

The blonde witch rose carefully and sat down in one of the spare chairs, ushering Draco to do the same. The boy looked from his mother to Hermione to Sirius with nervous wide eyes and sat very gingerly.

"I don't believe we've been introduced," Narcissa asked politely, looking to Hermione.

Sirius sighed, as though already bored by this encounter.

"No, I don't believe you have. Narcissa Malfoy, my daughter Hermione. Hermione, your…" He rolled his eyes, "Distant cousin, Narcissa Malfoy."

The older witch betrayed her shock for only a bare second before she offered her hand.

"A pleasure to meet you." She said, almost warmly.

Hermione, thoroughly unnerved, shook her hand but didn't say anything. Across the table, Draco looked like he wanted to be sick.

"So, what can I do for you?" Sirius asked, sipping his drink.

Narcissa lifted her head and looked directly at Sirius.

"Lord Black...I come to you asking for protection. I need you to dissolve my marriage to Lucius Malfoy."

* * *

**_Updated 2020_ **

**Author's Note:**

> Imported from my ff.net account


End file.
